This Is High School
by Bellachix
Summary: Naruto and his friends are back and starting out stronger than ever, but can they handle high school? Well, it's certainly not looking good. Can Naruto manage to keep the peace and stop the bloodshed? {Rated M for violence, drugs & strong language.} - (NaruXHina)
1. Chapter 1

_A Seed Planted, The Orphan Boy, and The Battle of Intellect_

Welcome to Konoha High! Where all of the girls fawn over a lot of boys who're just too plain stupid to notice or too intoxicated, whatever their own personal problems may be, to care. Speaking of intoxication, Shikamaru straightened the tie on his school uniform and loosened it lazily from his neck; he hated uniforms, ties, shoes.. hell, he just hated clothes in general.

School rules were a drag, and he found that they were much more so that than ever these days. Ever since the Konoha counsel enacted a new dress code, that is. Guys had a choice of either a dark blue sweater with black slacks and a tie, or a white button up shirt with dark green slacks. You could mix match if you wanted, hell, as long as you were wearing it.

The girls had an interesting dress code; some ankle length, high-waist, skirts of a dark blue color with white button up shirts, which had to be tucked in seamlessly. They also had the choice of wearing a knee length, dark green, frilly, poofy thing that Shikamaru was hesitant to even call a skirt, with a white t-shirt.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and opened his locker, this dress code had been put into motion because of a tit slip incident the year before. Women were so troublesome, and what had really made the situation worse was the fact that guys weren't allowed to wear hair ties unless their hair reached mid back, like Neji's. So here he was, in school uniform, hair hanging down loosely on his shoulders, because he bluntly refused to cut it.

He sighed and slammed his locker door closed with excessive force, which earned him a look from the hall monitor; Rock Lee. Yes, Konoha High had a hall monitor, and just in case you were wondering, he took his in-school job very seriously. Shikamaru imagined Lee had a very difficult time leaving his sash and belt at school come the end of the day.

"Please do not cause another disturbance like that, Shikamaru, or I will be forced to write you up." Shikamaru stared at him blankly as he continued to walk by him. He didn't have enough pot to finish this first day of school.

"This looks ridiculous, we aren't even allowed to accessorize?" Ino complained to Sakura at their shared locker. The two were new freshman and this hadn't been what they had in mind. "How in the world are people going to notice my amazing figure in this _thing_?" She emphasized by pulling on the band of her high waist skirt. "It doesn't show anything at all, I look like a nun..!"

"Relax, Ino-pig. It just means you'll have to actually use that personality of yours for once." Sakura propped a hand on he slim hip, having adorned the same fashion as her distraught friend.

"No one asked you , forehead."

"Let's go, I don't wanna be late on our first day."

"Lookin' fresh in your garbage bags, ladies!" A tall tan figure entered the conversation. His hands were behind his head and his dark blue and crested sweater clung to his biceps tightly.

"Thanks Kiba, just working with what we have here.." Sakura sighed as Ino slumped against their locker. "We really are wearing garbage bags.." She whined.

"Don't worry 'bout it, Ino. I know you're the curviest. That's all that matters." Kiba grinned jokingly and Sakura rolled her eyes. "How can you find such a pig to be so charming, Ino?"

"He's just joking... Jeez _forehead_."

The three shared a few comments before heading to their first class. The room was filled with people they knew all too well from the grade before, and a few new people as well. Sakura took a seat next to Shino Aburame, the quietest in class,next to her of course, and save for Hinata. Where was the little Hyuga girl anyway? She looked around curiously until her eyes landed on Tenten. "Oi! Hey Sakura! Loving the hair this year." She smiled and motioned her over to the seat next to her.

Usually Tenten sported a set of round buns on both sides of her head, but it looked as though this year she was going with two long braids. "I love your braids, what made you change?"

"Just wanted something new." She smiled and shrugged. Class began as soon as the bell rang, Iruka wasted no time.

"Welcome to Basic Algebra! As you know, I'm your teacher! Iruka Umino, but please just call me Iruka. Mr. Umino isn't necessary." He clapped his hands together enthusiastically. "My goal is to not only teach you a new and fun way to view mathematics, but to also learn from you as well. We can teach each other!"

Kiba leaned all the way back in his chair and gave a light yawn. His class had experienced Iruka's long winded lecture during opening orientation a few weeks back. This was going to be a long forty five minutes. He propped his large feet up on the back of Ino's seat while he discretely admired her from behind. She had a curvy figure with a petite waist and shoulders. He knew she was curvy but not _this_ curvy, she had changed a little over the summer.

He lazily glanced to his right and took quick note of the odd new student sharing an eye of her. Well, he wasn't really new, he showed up two years ago, but Kiba couldn't quite remember his name. S..Su.. Sai? Maybe? Their eyes met, however it wasn't quite what Kiba had expected. He had a cold gaze but he seemed a tad bit too submissive. That wasn't unusual though, Kiba just had a very difficult gaze and stature to challenge, so most opted out.

"Now I'm going to be passing out a syllabus. I expect each of you to read it and sign the consent form attached to the back. Keep the syllabus in your notes to refer to throughout the year and at the end of this class, many weeks from now, I will award you extra points for having it. Some of you may need those extra points so I encourage you to stay organized. Now, if you would be so kind, I'm going to verbally take attendance."

"Haruno, Sakura?"

"Hai."

"Uchiha, Sasuke?"

"Hn."

"How's your brother doing, Sasuke? It's been a while since he graduated." Iruka smiled warmly.

"Itachi is ...good."

"Good, glad to hear it. Tell him I said hello, will you?" Sasuke nodded quietly. "Hyuga, Hinata?" A small pale hand slowly emerged from the back.

"Ah there you are, as quiet as ever I see." Iruka smiled at the petite girl, "Well, we will work on that, Miss Hyuga." The said Hyuga girl blushed bright red and slumped back into her seat.

"Uzumaki, Naruto?" The room grew silent. "No? Really, he couldn't even make it the first day?"

"He'll be here." Sasuke spoke as if un-impressed.

"He goes by Namikaze now.." Sakura spoke up.

"You three are close?" Iruka insinuated between Sasuke, Sakura, and the absent Naruto.

"We all grew up together, best friends." Sakura smiled beautifully and Sasuke did everything he could not to scoff. "Is he always late?"

"Not usually, so it's probably important whatever it is.." Sakura bit her lip. "Hard to tell about.. good ol' Naruto." She gave a sheepish laugh as she failed to think of any valid excuse for her friend's absence.

"Please don't tell me I have another Nara on my hands.." Iruka grumbled and continued with his attendance sheet.

Thirty minutes into class the gray metal door opened ever so gently as if not to cause a scene, but everyone had stopped to look anyway. Iruka's unforgiving gaze met the largest pair of blue eyes he believed to have ever seen.

"..Naruto..Uzu..?"

"Hai. Namikaze, Naruto.."

"Glad you could make it.." His gaze softened on the friendly blond before him. He was dressed in school uniform with his shirt only half tucked in. He had harsh dark bags under his eyes and he just looked, honest to goodness, tired. "You make it here alright? Something happen?"

"Uhh.. yeah.." He scratched the back of his head and gave a sheepish smile, much like his pink haired friend before him. "I pulled a double shift last night... came home and forgot to set my alarm.. Sorry."

A double shift? This kid worked? In the ninth grade pulling double shifts? Iruka arched a brow, there was something familiar about the boy. It took him a moment but he pieced it together fairly quickly. "You're.." He was hesitant at first but continued, "You're.. Namikaze.. Naruto.. Headmaster Namikaze's son aren't you?"

The tired looking boy before him grinned, "Oi! Yeah! How'd you know?"

"You look just like him, dobe." Sasuke chimed in from his seat and everyone shared a giggle and agreed. Iruka even gave a small smile but it was short lived. Because this boy was an orphan as the headmaster he had spoken of died five or so years ago.

"Well take your seat Naruto.. and don't go giving me any trouble either!" He teased and everyone laughed. Naruto blushed and headed to the back of the room. "And tuck that shirt in before Miss Tsunade sees it..."

"Yeah, Naruto!" Choji chimed in with a laugh and gave Naruto a well deserved half handshake, after not having seen him all summer. "Good to see ya', hurricane." He mumbled and Naruto nodded back to him, "You too."

* * *

Shikamaru relaxed back in his chair as their teacher skimmed over the syllabus. "I'm not reading all of this for you, all I'm saying is show up to class or don't. I don't care. I lecture from my own studies, we won't open a book in here. Chemistry is better explained in words that mean something other than words simply taken out of context. Don't give me any trouble and I won't give you any trouble. Are we clear?"

"Umm... Mr... Hatake?"

"Yes?" He arched a brow at the implying student. "How long were you in the service?"

"Call me Kakashi and I was in for a good chunk of my life.. why?"

"Is that where you learned all of this science and chemistry?" Kakashi chuckled almost inwardly and with a smile on his face he leaned against his large oak desk. "I've always enjoyed science as a young boy, but yes, you could say that's where it all mainly started. But I won't bore you with that, so do you guys wanna get started today?"

"You're not boring us! Really, Mr. Hatake!" Girls gathered around the front of the room, leaving Shikamaru and Neji in the back.

"What on earth..?" Neji looked in disbelief. Shikamaru shrugged and lazily laid his head down on his desk. "Welp, looks like we aren't doing anything today. Wake me up when the bell rings, okay Neji?"

"Tch." The Hyuga boy crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.

It was hard to believe his first forty five minutes of day one and second year of high school consisted of nothing but troublesome women fawning over a middle aged man. In case you were wondering, Shikamaru was a genius who had been double promoted at one point in his school career. With an IQ of over two hundred, he really didn't even have to show up to class.

The lack of motivation, the constant zoning out and day-dreaming of sleeping somewhere quiet and dark, and the marijuana usage could all center around the fact that he was just too smart for his own good. What if he wasn't like this? Then he would be just like the guy sitting next to him; Neji Hyuga. Up-tight, always trying to impress someone, meticulous in nature, snobbish, arrogant, and stressed out. The two geniuses were the same yet polar opposites, in a way.

Normally the two smartest students in the school would be rivals but it all boiled down to the simple fact that Neji thought he was too good to even grace Shikamaru's presence, much less his intellectual level and Shikamaru just wasn't up to it; laziness won that battle.

But everyone had always wondered; Who is the smarter of the two? In a battle of intellect, who would win? What do you think?


	2. Chapter 2

_The Almost Bad Situation_

"Alright, your first exam will be next week. We have an exam at the end of _every_ week, is that understood? Yo, Kiba did you hear me? Shut up and pay attention." Iruka spoke casually to Kiba and the rest of his unruly students. "I know this is your freshman year and you probably aren't used to organization yet, but come on you guys, you have to put some effort in. Let me see some binders or folders...? Anything, _please_?"

The class shared a sigh and a few scoffed. Kiba had even went as far as to roll his eyes. Iruka took note and inwardly chuckled. It was very rare that he'd learn a students name and face within the first week or so of class and Kiba was a special case to say the least. Always mouthing off, getting into everyone else's business, and he had already threatened a classmate. He was a wild one, that Iruka was sure of. It had seemed his accomplice was none other than the blond bombshell, Namikaze. The one they all seemed to refer to as _Hurricane_.

"If you don't study for your exams you won't pass. Simple as that."

Iruka had still been a little unsure about the chain of error in the room. The class clown had yet to be revealed but he had a few good suspects. There was the obvious choice of Kiba and Naruto, but Sasuke seemed a little too quiet.. maybe it was one of the girls? Sooner than he expected, the bell rang and dismissed all of his young pupils to their next class. Sakura and Ino were the last two out of his classroom, gossiping the entire way.

"This has been a really quiet week, save for Kiba running his jaws constantly, sorry about that.." Ino apologized to Iruka in a sympathetic manner, "My boyfriend can be hard to deal with, I know this..."

"I can't wait 'til Naruto gets started.." Sakura chimed in sarcastically, "Sasuke and I will have our hands full.."

"Naruto hasn't been too bad this week, what's going on there?" Ino inquired, almost sounding worried. "His work schedule was switched around, they have him on night shift so he comes straight to school from work."

"Oh, so that's why he's been so well behaved. He's just exhausted." Ino giggled.

"Naruto is usually _worse_ than Kiba?" Iruka inquired and swallowed hard. The girls shared a disbelieving laugh. "Give it a week. You'll be sending him to Lady Tsunade _every_ day." Ino nodded in agreement, "Oh yeah, way worse than my boyfriend." Iruka leaned back in his chair and sighed, "So I take it Naruto is your boyfriend, Miss Haruno?"

"What? No..! Why would you think that!" Sakura's face flushed red and Ino laughed.

"My boyfriend is Sasuke!"

"Really?" Iruka tried not to seem too shocked.

"For three years now right, Sakura?" the girls nodded and giggled, "We better get going, see ya' tomorrow!" They waved and made their way out into the, no longer crowded, hall.

Who would've really thought Sasuke Uchiha would have a pretty girlfriend like Sakura. Not that Iruka thought anything was wrong with him, he wasn't an ugly guy, but still, neither was his older brother and he never entertained the idea of girls.. or guys. Actually, Iruka thought it was their parents that had been so strict about relationships and he was surprised Sasuke was allowed to date.

The first week of school was always uneventful, but it was Sasuke's favorite week out of every year. It seemed like Naruto was too tired to run his mouth all that much and all he really had to deal with was Kiba. That was hardly anything compared to Naruto.

It seemed as though Naruto had been sleeping a lot in class but waking up here and there to throw in some sarcastic and obnoxious comments along with his Inuzuka friend. Sasuke ignored them mostly, while Sakura spent her free time making a list of excuses for every time Naruto managed to put his foot in his own mouth, which was a lot.

The Uchiha home was a large scale building of two stories. The home was more so wide than it was tall. It consisted of a family of four; himself, his older brother, mother and his father. There were seven bedrooms, three bathrooms, two living rooms, a family den, a game room, a weight room, a training room, a large scale kitchen, and a swimming pool equipped with a sauna. To describe the lifestyle the Uchiha's lived would require great detail so we will sum it up with two words; _Organic_ , and _active_.

Sasuke's father, Fugaku, worked for the FBI as their Director of Federal Bureau Investigation and was a retired militant for the Naval influences of their nation. His mother, Mikoto, was a stay at home housewife and wonderful mother, as well as a huge health freak. His brother, well, his brother was a bit of a long story.

Itachi Uchiha was a straight A student, honor roll champ, high honors alumni, and Harvard graduate kind of son. Yet, he still managed to lock horns with their father. His brother was a real genius beyond his own time, a one of a kind rarity that occurred every few generations. However, he suffered from a severe depression disorder which rendered him reclusive. It was rare to see him out of his room or around the home and no one really went into his room to check on him, other than Sasuke.

Their father, Fugaku wouldn't even touch on the issue when it came to Itachi. The fact that his son was clinically and severely depressed embarrassed him and because of that very reason he and Sasuke did not get along. As a matter of fact, one could even say that Fugaku and Sasuke had one of the shittiest father-son relationships known to man.

Sasuke recognized Itachi as being sick and needing help, their father did not. He saw it as a way of opting out of responsibility and getting attention. Itachi was a genius, he didn't have to try to get attention, if he had even wanted it.

Sasuke entered the large scale home and was greeted by his mother. She gave him a smile and motioned toward the kitchen, where she had prepared him a snack to hold him off until dinner was ready. He nodded his _thank you_ and headed off into that general direction. Sasuke could already hear his father clearing his throat as he drank from his bottled water, while reading something out of a catalog at the kitchen island. "How was school?"

"Hn." He shrugged and sat across from him, in front of his protein shake and peanut butter coated celery sticks.

"How's Sakura, haven't seen her in a few days."

"Hn." He bit into a celery stick, excited for the peanut butter it held. It was rare she prepared a snack of anything but sliced peaches and broccoli.

"Do you have much homework?"

"We have an exam next week."

"I trust you'll study appropriately."

"Hn." Sasuke finished his celery sticks and cracked open his protein shake. "Oh, I meant to ask you, were you the last one to use the overhead press machine in the weight room?"

"Probably."

"I noticed it wasn't on your usual, is something going on there? You do six reps of thirty with around 180 to 215 pounds. Seemed as though you only did two reps of thirty with 100 pounds the other day."

"I wasn't into it." The room grew quiet and Sasuke could feel his father's eyes seeping into him from across the marble island. "You weren't _into_ it?" Sasuke didn't answer him, he only sipped on his protein drink. "So are you just not into fitness anymore? You going to stop living or being healthy because you're just not _into it_?" The anger was evident in his voice and it was rising. Even more so when Sasuke didn't respond. Fugaku slammed his bottled water into the trash and walked out of the kitchen. Sasuke calmly leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on the clean island. He released a sigh and continued sipping his protein shake.

Day one of the week of their first exam was nothing less than settling. Everyone was getting used to new boundaries and schedules and even making new friends. Neji sat across from a large group of girls he was all too familiar with, during his lunch. He could hear Sakura and Ino quarreling over petty and meaningless matters while his cousin listened dutifully.

At the table diagonal from his position sat Shikamaru and the rather round one, he'd always known as Choji Akamachi. His eyes narrowed in on Shikamaru's presence. He hated the fact that he was even breathing the same air as that lazy herbalist. What infuriated him even more so was that his teachers compared the two on a daily basis. Shikamaru was no where near being in the same class as he, or at least that's what he thought.

"Why do you always have such a sour look on your face?" Tenten sat across from her long time boyfriend, Neji. "I don't."

"Neji.." She looked over at the table that had once occupied Choji and Shikamaru. "You really don't like him? Have you even talked to him? Or is this about your ego?"

"I just don't see how I can be compared to the likes of him."

"You don't know him that well, Neji. Try not to judge.."

"He's just not right." Tenten sighed and ate what she could before disposing of her plate and leading Neji to the gymnasium. "Neji! Tenten!" A very flamboyant Lee came running up behind them. Neji rolled his eyes at the familiar voice, while his opposite, Tenten, greeted him with a smile. "Hey Lee! Great to see you, you've been so busy since school started."

"I have; in just two weeks, I've been promoted to hall manager, isn't that great?"

"Yeah that's wonderful!"

"If you plan on making a career of it, sure.." Neji mumbled sarcastically and Tenten covered his tracks with a compliment, "I see you're sporting green this year, it's always looked good on you!"

"Thank you Tenten, you're so kind! Neji is very lucky to have you." Tenten smiled, "Thanks, Lee. Well listen, we've gotta get going! Nice talking to you!" She waved as they continued on into the gymnasium. "I really wish you were nicer to him, Nej-" Tenten was cut short when Neji jerked her behind him protectively, by her waist. Tenten gasped and nearly screamed as she clung to Neji's back for balance.

"Do you have a problem with me?"

"Kankuro, stop.." A blonde girl pulled on Kankuro's arm, "Just stop.. this isn't worth it. It's only the second week of school." Kankuro pulled away from her as he was completely immersed in the situation playing out before them. "I'm feigning to beat his ass, now move Temari."

Tenten tugged lightly on Neji's shirt, "We should stop them, we can't let them..." He shushed her and pushed her back further. "Kankuro, STOP!" Temari pulled harshly on her brother's arm as he advanced toward the boy. Tenten recognized both Kankuro and Temari, but not the guy he was arguing with. "Neji please.."

"It's not our business, just hush."

"We can't just watch..!"Tenten nearly whined out in response. "Kankuro, STOP!" Temari planted her heels into the hard gymnasium floor, as she struggled to hold onto his arm. Tenten couldn't stand it anymore, she wouldn't sit back and watch violence that was totally preventable. Without a second thought, she ran from behind her boyfriend and put herself between Kankuro and this unknown boy. Her timing was extremely poor, however, as Kankuro was literally mid swing.

She closed her eyes and waited. She tensed for the impact that would inevitably come, though it was her own fault. The intense, suspenseful moment had led up to a crowd of screams from both boy and girl, and maybe even a few teachers who were short of making it in time. Tenten could identify many different voices in the crowd of screams, one even sounded like Neji. "Tenten! Are you crazy!?" She opened her eyes as if emerging from a trance. Her hands were shaking as she held them out in front of her. Her bewildered boyfriend was staring into her eyes angrily.

Had Kankuro stopped himself? Was it over? She looked ahead, expecting to see Temari's pissed off brother. "Stop, calm down." Shikamaru's back was to her and his hands were tangled in the front of Kankuro's shirt. Kankuro had a tight grip on him as well, as he tried to push his way by him. "HE-!" Shikamaru managed to force him back, away and out of the crowd, and into a corner. "I don't care what he did, it's not worth it, stop!" Kankuro pushed against him and Shikamaru met his forceful attempts with more force. "Calm down. Don't ever let anyone get you like that!" The two were like brothers, everyone knew that, and if anyone could back Kankuro away from a fight it was Shikamaru. They respected each other in that manner.

Temari was right by Tenten's side, "Are you okay?Did he hurt you? I'm so sorry!"

"I'm fine!"

"You look a little pale, come on let's go sit somewhere. Shikamaru will handle Kankuro from here." Tenten looked up at her outrageously mad boyfriend who had already started walking off, without even giving her a second look.

The two girls sat on the bleachers as Tenten's nerves calmed, though her hands were still shaking. "I'm sorry, that was really reckless of me." She joked and Temari smiled. "My brother can be scary sometimes, but isn't that bad, I promise. He just has an ill temper from time to time, but he would never intentionally hurt a woman." Tenten leaned back against the bleachers and watched as the previously acquired crowd continued to disperse, everyone was whining and upset about the lack of fighting.

"I'm sorry I made your boyfriend mad, he didn't look happy that you helped."

"It doesn't matter, I don't like watching people fight and Neji just, well, he doesn't like Shikamaru, probably took a blow to the ego." Tenten blurted out without thinking, "I mean he has no reason to not like him, but he's competitive.." Temari smiled, "You know Shikamaru?"

"We all grew up together in like grade school and stuff.."

"Oh, you must be from his original class, before he was promoted."

"Yeah, is he in your grade now?"

"Actually, no. I'm a Senior, he's a Sophomore. But we've been dating since I was in the 8th grade." Tenten smiled, "That's awesome, Neji and I have been together for quite some time as well. What year is Kankuro?"

"He's a Junior, he and Shikamaru are pretty much inseparable. Thank God Shikamaru came along when he did or we'd have quite the fight on our hands." Tenten nodded in agreement and talked to Temari for the duration of their lunch period.

Temari was a nice girl and they had a lot in common when it came to hobbies. "So text me and we can see a movie or hang out! Maybe we can go to the gym or something together." Tenten nodded and prepared to leave the gymnasium. "See ya!" She waved and exited into the cafeteria and down the hall. Neji was nowhere to be seen, as predicted. He always avoided her when he was mad.


	3. Chapter 3

_Causing Ripples_

Kiba sat next to Ino in science class, she was a shoe in for good grades. So far, the second week of school had been a complete bust for him. He had heard about Shikamaru breaking up a fight just the day before, but other than that there hadn't been much action going on.

As far as his love life was going, he had been with Ino for quite some time now; two years, in fact. Though he still hadn't introduced her to his family, he just wanted the time to be right. Not that he felt the time was wrong or anything, he was just an extremely patient person when it came to that kind of thing.

"Did you even bring a pencil? Because I'm not giving you one." Ino snapped, clearly she was still mad about the incident prior. "Yeah, I did." He half snapped back at her. "Why? You need it?" She rolled her eyes at him and turned around in her seat, "Just shut up and take your own notes."

"Tch." He glared the other direction and leaned back in his seat. Their arguments weren't a new adaptation, but had been more frequent in the past few weeks. Especially since Kiba had taken initiative and threatened their classmate. He couldn't help but feel like it wasn't entirely Sai's fault, however, Ino was partially to blame. She denied it, but he recognized the looks she had been sending him throughout class. He hadn't planned on starting his ninth-grade year out by threatening and beating everyone who looked at her.

He sighed and propped his feet up on the seat in front of him. A familiar face came through the door and sat behind him, "Hey, Hurricane."

"Yo, Kiba." He smiled and scratched the back of his neck. His blue eyes were squinted as he smiled. "What's going on?"

"Not much." Kiba grinned, but his attitude flipped when Sai walked in and took a seat in the back of the room. He became quiet and sighed heavily, which was unusual for his loud nature. Naruto, being as he was, picked up on it fairly quickly. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Kiba tapped his pencil on his desk and bit his bottom lip. He had an obnoxious temper, but he also had self control. He was determined to prove that. A bubbly voice pierced through his thoughts, "Do you need a pencil, Sai?" Ino had turned completely around and was waving a pencil in the air, "I've got an extra." Kiba gripped his pencil until his snapped in his hand and Naruto patted his shoulders before giving them a light squeeze.

"No, but thank you." Sai smiled and turned his head to the side. "I brought some of my own."

When class was over, Naruto stood up and walked out behind Kiba. He heard a slight giggle and glanced over at Ino, who was twirling her hair and quite literally making eyes at Sai. Kiba was the overprotective type, everyone knew that, but even Naruto could see what Ino was doing. What was her problem?

Instead of waiting for Ino, Kiba walked on out of class and to the next. He and Naruto shared that one as well, so it was normal for Naruto to accompany him. Thing was, Kiba usually waited on Ino and carried her books. Apparently not today. "Dude, what's... going on?"

"Not a clue." Kiba kept a straight face and continued walking next to Naruto. "She's been like this since school started. She ignores me, she brushes me off, doesn't text back, and makes eyes at him."

"You don't think she's...?"

"Isn't it obvious? Tch." He scoffed, "Maybe not, but she's definitely got it for him."

The two sat in their usual spots and started chatting with their other friends as usual. Hinata entered the room with her head down, and, as expected, Naruto reached over and pulled the desk next to him a little closer. "Here, Hina." She looked up and smiled. Once she sat down, he decided the seat wasn't close enough so he pulled both her and the hunk of metal and plastic closer, "There, that'll do." The loud scrapping noise turned everyone's attention to them and their Art teacher, Ebisu, cringed. "Naruto, would you pick the desk up next time?"

Naruto paused for a moment, as if thinking about it, and looked between him and Hinata, "Yeah I guess I could."

Ebisu shook his head and smiled, "Thanks."

~ Fifth Period~

Sasuke yawned and stretched as Sakura ruffled his hair playfully, from behind. He leaned back and glanced at her from the corner of his eye. She was smiling as usual, "Hn?"

"Nothing, I was just feeling. You didn't use any gel today. So is your hair just staying like this now?"

"Guess so."

As class began, Sakura held a conversation with Tenten as usual. "Why isn't Neji sitting with you?" She motioned to the empty seat next to her and back at Neji, who was seated in the back of the room. "He's still mad at me for throwing myself into that fight."

"Well you could've been hurt, but geez give a girl a break."

"You know how stubborn he is."

Tenten, Sakura, and Sasuke were the only ninth graders in the advanced math class. Both Tenten and Sasuke copied off Sakura when they weren't confident in their answers, which was a lot.

After class, Tenten met up with Temari by her locker. "Hey, there you are!"

"Here I am." Tenten smiled brightly. "Everything okay?"

"How would you like to have a sleep over? It'll be so fun, with movies and stuff. Just ignore my annoying brothers!"

"That sounds..great!" Tenten hesitated and agreed to meet at her home the following weekend. "Thank for inviting me! I've gotta get to class, see you later Temari." She closed her locker and watched the blonde bombshell trot off to her own class. She turned on her heels and ran into Neji's chest. "Oh, hey, didn't see you there..!"

"You're not really going, are you?" He peered down at her through cold eyes. Tenten was used to it, this was Neji. "Well, yeah, I was hoping to."

"Why would you even associate with them?"

"Them?"

"Them? Neji, that's no way to be. You know I talk to everyone. I don't judge anyone, it's not my right and it's not really yours..."

"I'm just stating the obvious. You can be smart about things without having to judge them for what they are. Don't allow your kind nature to get you mixed with the wrong crowd."

"Wrong crowd? It's just Temari..."

"And her short-tempered brothers."

"Neji... you don't think I would..."

"No, but should I remind you that one of them nearly knocked your lights out."

"That wasn't his fault, I jumped in front of it." He scoffed and folded his arms, "Makes no difference to me."

"I'm glad you're talking to me again, by the way."

"Tch. As if I had a choice." Well that stung a little. The brunette was pretty used to her boyfriend's attitude, but sometimes he would catch her off guard with his snide comebacks. "Right." She just faked a smile and walked on to her next class.

~Days End~

"Thanks for carrying my books, dick." Ino slammed her books on the desk in front of Kiba, a few minutes before the bell rang. With folded arms, he glared up at her from his seated position. "You've got arms."

"What the hell is your problem?" As the room began to fill up with their classmates, Ino became louder. After all, she loved causing scenes. "I don't have one."

"Well obviously you do! Let me guess, you're still jealous. You're pathetic." It was the last class of the day and just about everyone had it together. Current onlookers included Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto, and Hinata.

"Well you can stop acting like a slut at any time, Ino." Ino gasped and glared down at him. "A slut?!"

"Don't talk to her like that!" Sakura chimed in angrily and earned herself a look from Sasuke that screamed 'Mind your own business'.

"Keep your fuckin' nose out of it, ugly bitch." Kiba growled out. Sasuke's attention averted to the Inuzuka across the room, "Watch your mouth."

"Put a leash on your obnoxious bitch." Kiba stood and Ino moved back and out of the way.

"You want to lose your teeth?" Sasuke moved toward Kiba, and vice versa. Naruto came between them and shoved them back with both his fists against them, "Stop." Hinata swallowed hard and knitted her hands together. "Sakura, mind your own business. Kiba, you shouldn't have said that to either of the girls. Sasuke, you're too quick tempered. Ino, stop starting shit." Naruto pointed at each of them as he spoke. "Kiba and Sasuke, if you two want to fight then I'll fight you both after school. One at a time or both of you, doesn't make a difference to me."

"Please, just stop." Hinata chimed in quietly. At the sound of her voice, everyone visibly seemed to relax.

"Sorry." Sakura whispered and Kiba sighed, "Shouldn't have spoken to you like that, sorry, Sakura...Ino." Sasuke nodded and patted his shoulder roughly. Ino arched a brow and rolled her eyes, guys were so weird to her. The bell rang and everyone took their seat. Tenten came in a little late and stared out of the nearest window through the duration of their final class of the day. Hinata, being the sensitive type, picked up on it quickly. It was uncharacteristic of Tenten to be so …zoned out? She looked almost depressed, as if she were pouting about something or lost in thought. Hinata sighed and look up at Naruto, like she had so many times before, only he was looking back at her this time. His brilliant blue eyes bounced from her to the brunette by the window. His blond brows knitted together in slight distress and he gently nudged Hinata. "Try talking to her..." He mumbled so that only she could hear. Hinata nodded and agreed to call Tenten that night.


	4. Chapter 4

_The Build_

The next day, at breakfast, Tenten sat alone reading a gymnastics catalog. She was relishing in the peace in quiet for once in her life. Though she had an interesting read in her hands, her mind kept wandering back to the phone conversation she had with Hinata around twelve hours ago.

 _"You seemed a little off today, I was just wondering if everything was okay?"_

 _"Oh yeah, everything is fine.." If it were anyone besides Hinata asking, then she would've been a little snobbish about it. She knew Hinata would only call and ask out of genuine concern._

 _"Well, I was just checking. You can talk to me, you know? It won't go anywhere, I won't even tell Naruto, you know that, don't you?"_

 _"Yeah, I know. It's just that... well Neji is a little upset with me."_

 _"Oh, well you know how he can be... just give him some time, he always comes back with an apology."_

 _"Well that's the thing... I don't think it'll be like that this time. He's just acting more mad than usual, about everything."_

 _"I'll be here if you need to vent. Call me anytime you need me."_

 _"Thanks, Hina."_

Tenten placed the catalog on the table, unable to do anymore reading at this point. She took a sip of her flavored water and rested her head in her calloused hand. She could feel eyes on her from across the room, but she didn't have to look up to know who they belonged to. He just sat some ways off and stared at her with disdain in her eyes, he always did this when he felt she wasn't acting proper enough to sit with.

Neji was a good guy deep down, but he was experiencing some sort of identity crisis. He had been doing so since the fifth grade, when he had that fight with Naruto. He saw Naruto as being beneath him, like he did everyone else for as long as she had known him, and underestimated his gutsy attitude and ability to take up for himself. Naruto handled the insults the first few times, but Neji continued to try and bully him until one morning Naruto just put his foot down. After that fight Neji has been slowly changing, and Tenten could honestly say that considering she has been his friend since diapers. Their dads had been great friends, until Neji's passed when he was five years old.

"Hey Tenten! How are you doing?" Lee's bubbly voice met her ears and she instantly smiled. "Oh I'm great, Lee, how are you?" He sat beside her and folded his hands on the table, "Oh I wish I were a little better. I am not well today." Tenten's brown eyes clouded with concern, it wasn't like Lee to not be in good spirits. "What's wrong? Is everything okay?"

"I've just been thinking lately and... well I spent a lot of time in middle school trying to get over my feelings for Sakura. I thought everything was great until I saw her and Ino today, but it seems now I have another problem to worry about."

"Oh Lee.. I'm so sorry. It will get better though. You will find someone, I'm sure she'll be delighted to have you. Sakura has, and probably always will be, with Sasuke though..." Lee cut her off, "That's not what I meant, you see, Ino expressed her feelings toward me."

"What?"

"Yes, she took my hand and made several advances toward me while I was monitoring the south hall. I just don't know what to do, how do I decide? Kiba is such a great friend to me, but Ino is clear in her decision to pursue me.."

"Lee, no." Tenten blurted out without thinking. "Just stop, she's playing with you."

* * *

Shikamaru was leaned against the backside of the school building, smoking a cigarette and browsing on his phone. This was usually how he spent his least important classes. His phone vibrated in his hand and he lazily glanced over the message,

 _"Where the hell are you? Asuma Is looking for you."_

He groaned as he flicked his cigarette onto the ground and crushed it with his boot. He could already sense the hostile tone in Temari's text and he knew Asuma wouldn't be too happy about having to track him down either.

He trudged back into the building and headed back toward his designated educational area. As he approached a corner, Neji emerged from the other side of it. He took one look at Shikamaru and scoffed. "I see you've indulged in your nicotine fit, pathetic." Usually, Shikamaru was too lazy to retaliate to instigators like this guy.

"Look, I don't know what your problem is and honestly I don't care. You don't like me and I'm starting to really not care for you, so, someone smart like you should at least have enough knowledge to know that it's human decency to keep your mouth shut when you literally have nothing nice to say."

"Don't get snide with me. You might be smart enough to be promoted but you're ignorant enough to indulge in harmful pleasures. Which tells me you're not really as smart as everyone says you are."

"I'm not having a conversation with you about my smoking habits, but don't assume that's because I'm ignorant of the subject. You obviously have your own philosophy on life, as do I. Stop whining about it like you're my mom."

"You just want everything handed to you, don't you?"

"What the hell are you even talking about?"

"That's why you're in bed with the Subaku family. Anyone can stand Temari given the appropriate amount of money."

"Keep her name out of your pompous mouth." His eyes narrowed on Neji and his fists tightened at his sides. "Alright boys, you both have somewhere to be." Asuma entered the scene from the hall behind them. His large arms were crossed over his chest as he telepathically demanded they move their asses that very second. "Shikamaru, I know you have somewhere to be. Let's go."

The two boys moved along past each swiftly, both fuming at this point, Asuma followed closely behind Shikamaru as if to make sure he made it to his destination and wasn't hindered by anyone smoke breaks.


	5. Chapter 5

_The Explosion_

"Can you please explain to me what your problem is?" Sakura slammed a black touch screen phone down on the desk in front of Ino. It was still early in the morning, and first period hadn't even started yet. Everyone was either chatting it up waiting or out at the snack machines. Presently in the room was Hinata, Lee, Shino, Choji, and Sai. Shino was busy talking to Hinata, Sai was off to himself, Lee was listening to music, and Choji was making quick work of a bag of chips. "What are you talking about, forehead?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about." Ino glanced down at the phone under her hand and rolled her eyes, "You're gonna break that if you keep acting stupid."

"I don't care, he can buy a new one after I shove it up your ass!"

"Look forehead!" Ino stood from her seat and knocked her chair to the side, "I don't know what your problem is, but you need not involve me!"

"Do you want me to read them to you?! All of them? In front of everyone?!" At this point, everyone present was look and a few people had poked their heads in the door before swiftly exiting to find Naruto. Hinata walked over to them with her hands up, "I'm sure it's not that serious. Just calm down you guys.." Her timid voice refused to waver. "No need to get physical..."

Sakura cleared her throat and unlocked the phone in her hand, before continuing to read, _"Hey Sasuke!"_

 _"Hey"_

 _"Is Sakura around?"_

 _"Just took her home, something wrong?"_

 _"Nah, I just texted her and she hasn't responded. Figured she was with you."_

 _"No."_

 _"Ug, I'm so bored without her around to annoy. You can probably agree lol" – "Geez Sasuke, never pegged you as a slow texter."- "Are you seriously ignoring me?"_

 _"What do you want, Ino?"_

 _"What do you want, Sasuke?"_

 _"To sleep."_

 _"Too bad I'm not there ;)" – "What, not going to answer me? Guess Sakura has you whipped."- "Come on, Sasuke, I have some pictures I'm sure you'd like ;)" – "As long as you don't tell Sakura, that is."_

 _"No, thanks. And I don't even have to tell you because you know she reads everything."_

 _"Like I care! Just delete them later!"_

 _"No."_

 _"I'll just send them and you can look at them when you change your mind later!"_

 _"Ino, stop."_

 _"Sasuke, come on! Loosen up a little! I'm sure she's flirted around before!"_

 _"Stop texting me."_

The room was silent. Ino was red faced and fuming mad. "Do I need to continue? Or are you embarrassed enough?"

"You need to watch your mouth, forehead-!"

"Or what? You'll text my boyfriend nude pictures?!"

"I didn't send him anything!"

"But you wanted to! You practically forced your perverted suggestions onto him! Even after he told you to stop! I've already forwarded these messages to Kiba and-"

"And?! I don't care, do what you want!"

"What is wrong with you?! What is your issue?! I have been your best friend since day one! I stood up for you!"

"You didn't have to?! No one asked you to!"

"I don't know what you're going through, but this isn't you Ino! Stop acting like this, I am practically your sister!"

"Practically!" Ino spat out sarcastically.

"Look, you need to get your life together and stop acting like a slut. Until then, don't talk to me."

"Bitch, I'll do whatever I want!"

"Bitch, if you text Sasuke again you'll be receiving an ass whipping like you've never even seen before!"

"From who?! You?!"

Hinata took a step back and looked over at Choji and Shino for a little help. Shino looked terrified and Choji was glaring at Ino while Lee was nodding to whatever song was playing through his headphones. Sai wasn't even paying them any attention, and looked to be doodling or something. "Come on, let's all calm-"

"Sakura." Sasuke strode into the room with his hand out, expectantly. "You didn't have to run off with my phone like that, stop now. Leave it alone."

"Leave it alone?!"

"Yes. Nothing happened, no use in getting mad."

"I don't care! She supposed to be my best friend!"

"Sakura.. let it go."

"If it were Naruto, would you let it go?!"

"Sakura!" Sasuke drew in a sharp breath of air, "I hate drama, so shut up! I took care of it, I don't need you as a problem solver."

"I'm your girlfriend!"

"Exactly, now drop it before you regret doing shit out of anger later."

"Why don't you do what Naruto said and mind your own damn business, Sasuke, this is between me and my, used to be, best friend." Sakura spat out and glared at Ino who glared back just as intensely. Sasuke practically growled and a new body entered the room behind him.

"Look forehead, we both know you aren't going to do anything, so just shut up already."

"Out of respect for my other best friend, your BOYFRIEND, I'm trying to refrain. But if persist then I will deliver."

"Oh whatever!" Ino was getting heated all over again. "Just puss out already and stop talking!" Sasuke rolled his eyes and stepped to the side to make room for Naruto, who looked at Hinata for damage control. Hinata shrugged as if to say she tried and Naruto opened his mouth to say something before he was cut off. Kiba almost charged into the room with both fists at his sides, "Whoop her ass, Sakura, put her on the floor and while she's down there she can find another boyfriend!"

"Kiba!" Naruto and Sasuke yelled in unison and Sakura, without hesitation, decked Ino. "No, no, no!" Hinata grabbed Sakura and pushed her away as Ino came back with a fist, going over Hinata's shoulder, connecting to her chin. At that point, it was officially on. Sai put his notebook down and jumped from his desk. Sasuke and Naruto scrambled to grab the two before they locked into the good ol' hair grip. They were a few seconds late, however, as Sakura manicured nails found their way to her long blonde hair and pull viciously. They stumbled around the room with Sasuke and Lee holding Sakura's waist, Sai on Ino, and Naruto trying to pry their hands out of each other's hair. "Stop! Stop now!"

"Let her take her ass whooping, Naruto!" Kiba yelled and leaned back against a random desk. Hinata glared over at him and Naruto rolled his eyes as he continued to try and pry them apart. He was too busy to deal with him right now. "Kiba! You initiated this, you've gotten enough of what you wanted. Now shut your trap!" Hinata scolded, obviously angry.

"Watch your mouth, four-eyes." He motioned to her thick framed black glasses. "You're the last person that needs to run their mouth to me, I don't take shit from a Hyuga on any day. All you four-eyed freaks are trouble."

Naruto ripped the two girls apart and Sasuke took Sakura out of the room, away from Ino. Iruka came running into the room yelling for a moment, before taking his leave to escort Sakura and Ino to Tsunade's office.

Everyone was in the room, minus the two girls. Tenten was looking around, waiting on an explanation but Hinata was too busy glaring up at Kiba. "Don't worry about it, Tenten, just a spat." Naruto shrugged as he pulled the hair from betwixt his fingers. He stretched and trudged over to Hinata while looking around the room. Everyone seemed stressed out now, and quiet. He reached out and took Hinata's small hand into his. "I think we should all go home." He mumbled to himself before looking down at Hinata. He expected to see her silver eyes looking up at him. Instead, he had a view of the side of her face, which was fine too. She was beautiful inside and out, and at any angle, he thought. Her eyes were his favorite thing about her though, that and her smile, they were such a rare shade of gray.

He leaned over to kiss her cheek and stopped short. She looked pissed. At him? What did he do? He pulled back and grabbed her arm gently. "Hina..." Her beautiful eyes glanced up at him and a smile crossed her face, "Yeah?"

"What's the scowl for? Did I do something?" He arched a blond brow and laughed nervously. His large hand scratched the back of his neck and he looked around the room as if to see if anyone was paying attention to what he thought would be his death. "No, it's nothing."

His large blue eyes landed on Kiba, who had a sour look on his face as well. Man, everyone was in a bad mood. Kiba was glaring with his usual mad face. Naruto sighed and followed his eyes down to Hinata. _Wait._ Was he glaring at Hinata? He looked at Hinata, then back up to Kiba. Did he miss something? Did someone say something? Were they arguing?

"Your damn right it's nothing, mind your own business." Kiba mumbled. Naruto's head turned ever so slightly to the right and his eye twitched, "I'm sorry, what?" Kiba groaned and folded his arms over his chest. "What did you just say?"

"What, Naruto?"

"What. Did. You. Just. Say."

Sasuke, who had just stepped in the room, noted the tone in Naruto's voice and the way he moved his hands by his sides. After doing so, he casually walked over and leaned on the desk beside Kiba, just in case.

"I'm not going there with you today, Naruto."

"Oh but you are, because apparently, I missed something."

"Missed what?"

"Well let's start with the person who told you it was okay to tell Hinata to mind her own damn business when she was clearly talking to me." Sasuke sighed. Unlike him, Naruto wasn't the type to make sure Hinata minded her business. Luckily, he never had to because Hinata never caused trouble. He was one of those guys who would, literally, defend her with every argumentative breath in his body then tell her what she did wrong in private. To him, Hinata did no wrong.

"I don't need anyone's permission for that."

"What was that even supposed to mean? 'Your damn right' 'mind your own business'? Who- Just who in the literal fuck do you think you're talking to?"

"Naruto, please." Hinata sighed, already tired.

"Look, she smarted off to me and I checked her for you." Naruto's eyes widened and he smiled. Sasuke knew that smile. "Is that right?" He looked down at Hinata, "Did he check you?" Hinata sighed again, her boyfriend was psychotic. Bless his heart.

"No, Naruto."

"Tch." Kiba rolled his eyes and Naruto's gazed averted to him, "Look, Kiba-"

"Don't even start, you're not getting in my face over her." Kiba glared at him. Naruto took a deep breath and popped his jaw before continuing calmly. Frighteningly calm, if you were to ask Sasuke.

"Let me explain somethin' to you, Kiba. First off, okay, I don't have to get in your face for you to get my point. Secondly, I don't give a flying rats ass what Hinata has said to you, if you would like to respond or write a formal complaint- come to me. Thirdly, don't you ever look me straight in the face and tell me that you checked my girlfriend, _ever_ again. I don't talk about my issues a lot, you know that. You are literally one of my best friends and you know where I stand, it's not a mystery to anyone. Everyone in this room knows that I try to be the best and most supportive friend that I possibly can. I will go above and beyond for any of you guys, but do not flip on me -especially with her."

"Yeah, whatever. I gotcha'." It may have looked like defeat, or a threat coming from Naruto, but it was quite the opposite. It was just a reality check, Naruto and Kiba went through this at least once a year and they were best friends the very next day. Sasuke was only worried because it had never involved Hinata before, and Naruto gets plain ignorant over Hinata.

* * *

Toward the end of the day, Tenten was at her locker with Neji beside her. He was leaning against an unused locker while looking up at the ceiling. "Tenten."

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry." She closed her locker and looked up at him, "What?"

"I'm going through a lot of...stuff right now. I just wanted to apologize for being such... nuisance."

"You're not a nuisance, I just wish you would be more verbal about your problems. I don't see why you aren't, I already know about them."

"I don't like discussing it."

"Well that's fine, but you shouldn't take it out on me. I understand I made you mad by throwing myself into that fight, but that doesn't give you the right to ignore me and what you said about Temari was out of line. Why can't we just be a normal couple and share our problems?"

"Normal? You think we are the only ones that have problems?"

"No, but we used to not have any like this. We used to talk about everything. There were no secrets. Now I feel like I hardly even know you because you won't even tell me when you're mad, you just walk off and ignore me for a week." Neji was silently looking up at the ceiling. Tenten sighed, inwardly, and pulled her books tightly to her chest.

"You're right, I'm sorry." He looked down at her with his usual look and Tenten smiled. It had been a while since she'd seen his half smile. "Thank you." She bit her bottom lip and averted her eyes to try and hide the brimming tears. "Tenten?" His long arm wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her into him. Neji normally wasn't an affectionate person at school, but he hated to see her cry after he had acted so rudely toward her all week. "Don't do that, don't cry." He kissed the top of her head and when she looked up at him he kissed her forehead, and then her small pink lips. She smiled, "I forgive you, but please work on this with me?"

"I will."

"I love you, Neji Hyuga." She nuzzled his nose because she knew it annoyed him, and he chuckled, "I love you too."


	6. Chapter 6

_The Not So Perfect Family_

Sasuke crept through the front door of his home, his dad's car was in the driveway which meant he was home when he was supposed to be out on a business trip. It was around four p.m. and he was returning home from school and the gym. The t.v. was on in the living room, which was unusual because no one ever made use of the television in their family. He slid into the room behind the large sofa and took note of the long black hair, but it wasn't his mom. "Itachi?" His older brother smiled and turned around to greet him, "Hey Sasuke."

"What are you doing up?" It was unusual for Itachi to be awake and bustling about the house, as he normally confined himself to his room all odd hours of the day. Especially when their father was home, "Dad." He shrugged and pointed toward the stairs. Screaming was coming from the carpeted staircase, it sounded like his mom and dad were into it again. "What over this time?"

"Dad came home in one of his moods. You know how he can be. He busted the laundry room door open on mom and scared her half to death."

"So you came out to check on her." He nodded and flipped through some channels, "I'm still kind of worried. She said everything was okay, but you know mom."

"Yeah, she likes to pretend." Sasuke sat on the couch next to his brother and half listened to the television and his parents quarreling. It wasn't that they had been bad parents, it's just that their mom wanted to pretend they had a little white picket fence family when they clearly did not. Their dad had some OCD problems as well as some other compulsive disorders, everything had to be done a certain way or he would go off the deep end. "How was school?"

"Sakura had a fight with Ino."

"Oh? Aren't they best friends? That's unlike Sakura."

"It was over a text message Ino sent me, well, a few text messages."

"Why didn't you just take care of it?"

"I tried but, Sakura wanted to have words with her."

"I see." He stared at the t.v. as he flicked through the channels. "Nothing good on?"

"There never is."

Their conversation was interrupted by glass shattering upstairs and their mom screaming at their dad. "She's thrown something.."

"I'm surprised it's taken her this long."

"You want me to check or you?"

"I'll go with you." Itachi stood and followed Sasuke up the stairs.

"Don't throw things like a psychotic house wench!" Their father screamed from a totally different room than their mother. "You make me this way!" He stepped out into the tiled hall and charged into the bedroom that she had been folding laundry in. Remnants of a flowered lamp littered the floor at the end of the hall. Sasuke sighed and peaked around the corner at them, "What's going on?" Itachi asked from behind him. "Just their usual fighting." Itachi stepped into the hall next to him, just feet away from the bedroom they were now fighting in. "Dad has been getting a lot worse."

"Yeah, he's been getting a lot more vocal lately." Sasuke nodded in agreement.

"Get the fuck out of this bedroom I am trying to clean!"

"This is my fucking house don't tell me what to do!"

"Get away from me!" Another piece of furniture hit the wall and caused a loud crashing noise, but neither of the boys jumped. "Throw something else! You're a stupid whore!"

"Should we stop them?"

"Hopefully she knocks his brains out."

"Get out!" Sasuke moved closer to the bedroom door when he heard skin on skin contact. "Don't shove me, bitch!" He suddenly flung the door open, with Itachi behind him, and ran into the room. "Hey, stop! Stop! Dad!" Sasuke grabbed onto his hands, which were threatening to grip their mothers neck, and Itachi caught him in a headlock. "Dad let her go! Stop!" His grip tightened around her small throat and Sasuke tried desperately to pry his fingers off, "Dad!" Their mom gasped for hair and choked which made Itachi tighten his own grip around his father's neck, "Let go of her!" Sasuke pushed against him as he forced his fingers between his palms and his mother's throat, "Stop! You're hurting her!"

As a last resort, Itachi pulled his hand back and balled it into a fist, "Let her go or I'll break your ribs!" Panic crossed Sasuke's face as his mother's own face started to show signs of oxygen deprivation. "Itachi…!" A loud crack met his ears as Itachi rammed a fist into Fugaku's rib cage. He gasped for air and started to retaliate by squeezing harder. Another loud crack followed soon after Itachi jabbed another fist into his rib cage. He wailed out in pain and released his grip on his wife before he fell to the floor.

Sasuke caught their mother before she could collapse and sat her on the bed, against the wall. "Is she breathing?"

"Yeah, barely."

"Take her to the ER, I'll handle dad for a while."

"Shouldn't he go too?"

"He can go when he feels like taking himself." Sasuke carried their mother out to the car, he peeled out of the driveway and headed toward the hospital.

* * *

 **With Naruto & Hinata:**

Hinata sat cross-legged on Naruto's bed, watching him down a bowl of ramen. He had a talent for eating all sorts of ramen at one time. "You sure you're not hungry?" She nodded and flipped through one of her books, "You gonna study right now?"

"I thought about it."

"Why?"

"What else is there to do?"

"Well.." He gave her a perverse smirk and she looked the opposite direction. "Like I said, nothing else to do." He sighed in defeat, it hadn't meant that much to him anyway. "Yeah, yeah. Marriage, I gotcha." He teased and poked her side. "Thank you." She smiled and wiggled a little.

"So, what did Kiba say to you today, exactly?"

"Well, I smarted off to him first."

"Doesn't matter though, I get how Kiba is. He is one of my best friends, but he needs to learn how to control his anger a little. I mean he pretty much initiated a huge brawl with just his mouth."

"Well that wasn't entirely his fault."

"Sakura was going to back down until he opened his mouth."

"I know."

"So what was said?" Hinata replayed the entire situation for him, Naruto sat and watched and listened to her every concern and complaint before continuing, "It's better for me to hear about it later than to hear about it immediately, I get that I can act ridiculous sometimes. I just don't like people trying to run over you, like they used to." Hinata nodded in understanding. "I'll talk to him about it, probably apologize for getting so uppity, but still he needs to apologize to you. You were just telling him the truth and he knows it."

"I don't expect him to apologize. I shouldn't have gotten myself so worked up and said what I did. I was just so frustrated with trying to avoid the fight and he slung a monkey wrench in the ordeal."

"Yeah, I get that. But he had no right to call you four eyes and run his mouth like that. That I could punch him in the mouth over."

"Well please don't, I don't want you fighting anymore. We talked about that, remember?"

"That was back in the seventh grade, you still remember that conversation?" He laughed and stretched his arms out.

"Yes, I remember every promise you've ever made to me."

"Oh really?" He climbed up the side of the bed and crawled over to her until his lips were hovering just inches from her own. "What else do you remember?" His hands gently caressed her sides as he threatened to pin her down beneath him. She stopped him with a smile and answered, "For example, In the sixth grade, when everyone was talking about sex, you promised me you would wait until we were married."

"Yeah, I meant it too. Whatever makes you happy." His left hand moved from her side to her cheek and he placed and chaste kiss against her lips, "Thank you, Naruto."

* * *

 **Back to Shikamaru & Temari:**

Shikamaru drove Temari home from school that evening. He was quitter than usual which caused her to prod at him with questions. "Something on your mind?"

"Not really." She nodded and looked out of her car window, "My car should be out of the shop next week."

"I don't mind this." He smiled a little and reached his hand over for her to take. "Not driving just feels weird to me." She laid her smaller hand into his, "I know." Silence took over the vehicle once more, "Did something happen with your class today?"

"I think Sakura and Ino had it out, doesn't surprise me. Ino has been acting weird lately."

"Weird? I hope everything is okay. She's always been sweet to me."

"I think something is going on with her parents. She's just been acting out of character." Temari nodded and fell silent once more. "You said Tenten was coming over this weekend, right?"

"Yeah, we are supposed to have a slumber party. Why?"

"Just checking."

"She's a really sweet girl."

"Yeah, but Neji is a dick."

"Shikamaru."

"He is, I'm surprised they have made it this far. He pushes her away all the time. She has the patience of a saint."

"She just loves him; you'd be surprised what a girl would do for the guy she loves."

"Oh I've seen a few things." He teased playfully and Temari pinched his nipple, "Ah..! Okay. Okay, sorry."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: So, so sorry guys! I haven't had internet for a week and I've just had everything fixed! A huge storm came through and pretty much destroyed everything, luckily it only took my power and internet and not my garage. I'm very thankful for all of the support and reviews! Forgive me for this mass update I'm about to annoy all of my followers with, I've had nothing to do for a week but sit and write chapters on word! XD**

* * *

 _A Lamb or A Lion?_

So, after Sakura was scolded by her parents, she ended up at the ER that night to sit with Sasuke's mother while he went out and got food. He was adamant about having someone by her side almost the entire time she was there. Not that Sakura minded in the least bit, she adored him mom. Besides, she was responsive now and up to chat around. Luckily there had been no damage done, just some minor bruising and perhaps a headache for the next few days due to lack of oxygen for over, almost, two minutes. Sakura couldn't imagine having Sasuke literally choke her out for two minutes out of anger, his dad must have been upset about something.

Things like this weren't new to her though. Sasuke's family was rich but they had their own share of problems. His father was the main contributor; any little thing could send him flying off the deep end. She vaguely recollected her eighth-grade year, when she had still been getting used to the Uchiha family, at thanksgiving dinner she was helping Mikoto set the table. Mikoto had told her she would show her where to put things after she drained the potatoes, so Sakura sat the plates down and waited on her. Sasuke was on his phone looking up a recipe for greens casserole when Fugaku walked in. Mikoto had mentioned he was in a foul mood, which didn't surprise her honestly, and Sakura would never forget the way he looked at her. He just stared at her uncomfortably as his eye averted from her to the dinner plates in front of her. The snide comment that passed his lips so easily still made her blood boil, _"I guess your parents didn't care enough to teach you how to properly set a table? A fine girlfriend you have, Sasuke."_ That alone was enough to start an argument, she and Sasuke ended up eating at her parents' house that Thanksgiving.

"What are you thinking about, dear?" His mother's voice rang through to her. "Huh? Oh, nothing, just spacing out I guess."

"Well that's no good." She smiled and to Sakura it was like looking at Sasuke. He favored his mom way more than his father, around the eyes and cheeks. "Sasuke should be back soon, hopefully he brings something good to eat. I would've never thought it would take so long to fill out paperwork, but these nurses are busy. They work hard. Is this what you want to go into, the medical field?"

"Yes ma'am. I want to be a doctor, preferably a pediatric doctor."

"That sounds lovely, I believe it suits you as well. Has Sasuke mentioned what he wants to do?"

"Not recently, he doesn't talk much about it."

"He doesn't talk much about anything other than dieting, his brother, and weight lifting." Mikoto sighed and hung her feet off the side of her bed. Sakura scrambled her brain to find something that Sasuke maybe had mentioned doing after graduation, but there wasn't anything. Maybe he just hadn't decided yet. "He likes working on cars, doesn't he?"

"Oh yes, he does. He used to watch Fugaku work on that old automobile we had behind the house. Well, our old house. Before he was promoted and we moved. I loved that house, it was small and modest, not too much to keep clean. Now I feel like I'm a full-time maid in a five-star suite." Sakura giggled. She had never heard anyone complain about living in a mansion before. "Don't get me wrong, we have been blessed with great fortune and two very smart and capable young men. I just wish that we could slow down sometimes and get back to the basics that brought us here." The room was silent and Mikoto sighed, "Look at me rambling on again. Perhaps we should page the nurse to knock me out again." The shared a few more laughs before Sasuke returned with their food.

Then next day, after all the fighting and turmoil had settled, it was officially Friday. Which meant Tenten would be walking home with Temari after school. Her morning started off decently, however no one seemed to be on speaking terms just yet. Sakura and Ino were absent, she suspected they had been suspended. Naruto and Kiba weren't up to their usual antics, they were either mad or sleepy and judging by the looks of them it could've been both. Hinata was chewing on a piece of gum while calculating some sort of word problem for her evening math class. Tenten sighed and slumped in her seat, it sucked not having classes with her boyfriend. They made some ground, she felt, yesterday evening and she was excited to get him to open even more. She was also excited to sleep over with Temari for the weekend, they had so much in common that she was sure it would be a blast.

Out of the corner of her eye, Hinata offered Tenten a piece of mint gum and she gladly accepted. Shino held his hand out and Hinata gladly obliged, to which he bobbed his brows suggestively and both girls cringed and shook their heads. Choji, who sat behind Tenten, nodded at Shino and gave him a wink. Shino paled and turned around in his seat, Hinata rewarded Choji with a piece of gum.

"What's going on back there?" Iruka asked. Tenten and Hinata bushed and the entire class turned around. Naruto's still sleepy eyes glanced over the girls as if checking on them, he was ridiculously protective over women in case you hadn't noticed. "It's hard to tell about four-eyes, Mr. Umino." Kiba replied sarcastically. Iruka looked down at Kiba in disbelief, "What did you just call her?" He asked, almost offended himself. Kiba chuckled and glanced over at Naruto who just stared at him. He opened his mouth and yawned before adding to the conversation, "How about you just shut the fuck up, Kiba."

"Don't think I will."

"I wasn't a suggestion, asshole."

"Boys, Naruto language, Kiba apologize to Hinata please."

"Don't think I will."

"It wasn't a suggestion, Mr. Inuzuka."

"I'm not doing shit."

"Language, please." Iruka rolled his eyes and sighed. "Is something going on here? Did all of this happen yesterday? Are you all going to fight now?"

"We might," Naruto added, "If Kiba doesn't lay off my damn girlfriend, I just might knock his teeth out of his mouth."

"Oh yeah?" Kiba started but was interrupted by Iruka, "Enough, we should all talk about this." He sat his books down and halted his lecture just to stand in front of the room and coordinate a meeting. "Alright, Kiba, tell us why you're obviously angry with Hinata. No one interrupt him, this is Kiba's turn."

"Because she can't mind her damn business, that's why. Ino and Sakura had a fight, so what? Like that's my fault?"

"That was your fault." Naruto interjected and Iruka gave him a look, "Naruto! Hush. Continue, Kiba."

"How was it my fault? She was messing around with Sasuke, I didn't make her do it! She deserved what was coming to her."

"Not from Sakura!" Naruto opened his mouth again and when Iruka tried to silence him he just yelled over him, "Sasuke took care of the situation, he made it very clear to Ino that he wanted nothing to do with her in that way. Sakura didn't have to fly off the handle and she was trying not to. No, it wasn't your fault but you didn't have to come in running your mouth and trying to get someone hurt."

"Did you want me to give her a basket of flowers, Naruto?! She tried to cheat on me!"

"I get that, we all get that! No one is blaming you for dumping her! I just think you aren't much better than she is."

"What hell does that mean?!" Iruka stiffened, "Both of you stop yelling or don't speak at all, and language please."

"All I'm saying is that she was supposed to mean so much to you at one point in time, you got mad at her and jealously took over like front wheel drive. If you have ever loved her like you said, how could you ever talk to her like you did? How could you have let her fight her best friend? Are you that selfish?"

"You think I'm selfish? She's treated me like shit these last few days, you want me to respect her for that?"

"She was your friend before your girlfriend, right? You should at least be able to respect the friendship between all of us enough to get along. If you want to spend the rest of your life throwing a pity party for yourself then have at it, but don't run your mouth to Hinata for standing up for the fact that we were all friends before we even knew what relationships were."

The room grew silent and Iruka clapped his hands and forced an awkward smile, "Well, Hinata, anything to add?"

Hinata shrugged and looked over at the now relieved Naruto, who had just spoken his peace. He had a smile on his face as if to say, _go ahead_. She looked at the expectant Kiba and smiled before opening her mouth and releasing her thoughts on the matter.

"I hope you hit a ditch and blow out every tire on your truck while you fuck off to the beat of your own pity party." The room was silent, Tenten had a hand clasped over her own mouth and Naruto's head seemed to be spinning as he stared at her almost dumbfoundedly. Kiba stared at her in the same position and cleared his throat, "Alright, I guess I'll take that." As he turned around in his seat Hinata added, "Call me four-eyes again and I'll catch you after class, asshole."

"Gotcha."

"Alrighty then, moving on." Iruka said as he picked up his teacher's edition and went back to teaching. Naruto was left staring at who he once thought was his girlfriend, only now he was convinced it was a demon possessing her small body and parading around as his sweet little Hinata who helped everyone out and never made a peep.

"Hinata did what?" Neji looked doubtful as Tenten filled him in during their shared advanced class. "you heard me."

"No, she didn't. Hinata doesn't have a mouth like that."

"I swear she did. Right in front of Mr. Umino."

"What exactly did Kiba do?"

"He's been a dick to her ever since that fight between Ino and Sakura. I guess he and Hinata had some words… he called her four-eyes in front of everyone."

"Excuse me?" Neji's brows furrowed, "He insulted her, in front of the entire class?" Tenten nodded, "And just where in the hell is Naruto during all of this?"

"Well, Naruto said something to him but in the end Hinata had the last word." Neji sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "If it had been anyone else there would've been no discussion, Naruto would've just broken his jaw."

"I know. I think Hinata may have said something against it though, he seemed kind of calm about it, normally he would've been in his face."

"She must have, she's way too nice."

"But she mellows Naruto out, and I don't think it's a bad thing honestly."

"It's not, I don't suppose, as long as he is there to keep people from running over her. It's so out of character for her to speak up like that though. He must have really hurt her feelings."

"You think so?"

"That's how Hinata operates. If you can push her to the point of no turning back or trigger her then you have a true talent. She's extremely patient and very few things set her off like that. And I do mean _very_ few things. I've known her my entire life, grew up in the same house as she, and I have never even heard of her going off on someone like you said she did. She is silent natured, it's not a show, that's her. So yes, Kiba had to have hurt her feelings pretty badly."

"By calling her four-eyes?"

"I'm not entirely sure if that was what set her off, to be honest. That seems too trivial, it's honestly hard to know for certain."


	8. Chapter 8

_The Great Philosopher_

Ino sat at the edge of her bed with her feet curled up to her chest. She bit her lip hard before giving a sigh. It had been two days since she heard from her best friend, well.. ex best friend. She never knew her life could be so quiet. A knock on her door interrupted her self loathing, "Come in." Inoichi stepped in with his hands in his pockets, "Hey, glad to see you're up."

"Yeah." She gave him a quiet answer. "I've been meaning to talk to you, Ino. About what happened at school.."

"Go ahead.." She kept her head down low, "Listen, I think you should tell us, your mom and me, what exactly went down. You had a fight, I understand that but why so sudden and violent. You two were fine just the other day.." Ino shrugged her shoulders and kept her lips tight, "Come on, baby girl, you have to talk to someone about it."

"I flirted with Sasuke."

"Oh." Inoichi was a little taken aback by her forwardness, "Sasuke? Why Sasuke?" Ino shrugged yet again. "Was that the reason for the fight?"

"Yeah."

"Well, why would you do that?" Ino shrugged and looked around the room. "There has to be a reason, Ino. Do you like him?"

"No."

"You wanted to get to know him?"

"Not really."

"How is Kiba with all of this?"

"We aren't together anymore."

"Ah, I see." Inoichi was quiet for a moment before he continued, "Are you heartbroken?"

"No."

"Well, what are you feeling?"

"Nothing." She whispered. "I don't feel anything at all, not anymore."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I'm just not happy."

"Well you just had a fight with your best friend, it's to be expected.."

"No, I'm lost."

"Lost? Ino, honey, your dear ol' dad can't read between the lines. Please don't be vague."

"I don't know who I am, or what I want for that matter."

"You're Ino, and just...think about what you want." Her father was trying the best he could, but it was obvious he wasn't too great with those conversations. Ino stood from her bed, "I'm going over to see Shikamaru.." Inoichi nodded. "Try to be back before dark."

* * *

Tenten and Temari sat on the huge leather couch while gossiping and laughing about. "You know, you're really awesome, Tenten. I didn't expect you to be so cool about stuff."

"Really? Thank you, I think you're really awesome as well, could you maybe show me how you do your make up?"

"Really? You like how I do my make up?"

"Yeah, especially your eyeliner."

"I mean, I can show you. You just look so naturally beautiful without it. I would hate to get you started on a bad habit." Tenten blushed and averted her eyes, "I just have these freckles across my nose and shoulders, I would love to cover them up.."

"I think they're cute. They give your appears a taste of your real personality. Your skin is so smooth and blemish free, otherwise. I think you could do some mascara if you really wanted to, but you have such thick lashes already. Your eyebrows are full and well shaped and you don't even pluck them, do you?"

"No, it looks painful." Tenten shrugged off her blush, "I still wanna see how you do it."

"Come on, I'll show you my make up vanity." Tenten followed closely behind Temari as they headed down a long hallway, "It's not in your room?"

"No, I have a make up and costume room." Tenten was a little surprised but didn't say anything. Temari suddenly stopped in front of her, "We have company, put a shirt on."

"We do?" She poked her head around Temari and found a familiar face; Kankuro. "Yes we do." Kankuro maneuvered around Temari, in an attempt to continue down the hall, but stopped in front of Tenten. He stared down at her through half lidded, dark brown eyes. His hair was a mess and his ball shorts were a little wrinkly, he had to have just woken up. "Sorry you had to see like this, what's your name again?"

"Kankuro, don't talk to her when you're half naked..!" Temari was almost fuming.

"..erm..Tenten."

"Tenten?" He blinked a few times before escaping his groggy state of being half asleep. "Oh, Tenten. Yeah I knew you looked familiar."

Temari crossed her arms and stared up at him, "You almost punched her in the face."

"Sorry about that, I really am. When I get mad it's better to just stay out of my way or behind me."

"Yeah, it's ..okay."

"No really, I would've felt horrible if I hit you. I mean.." He didn't blink or break eye contact. His dark brown eyes peered down into her bright honey brown ones. He found them mesmerizing, "Alright, thanks weirdo." Temari interrupted a she pulled Tenten along the hall and into her make up room. "Sorry about him, he's a total psycho."

* * *

Naruto walked through the door of his home, dropped his bags of groceries in the kitchen and flopped down in a chair. He was exhausted from work, Sasuke, and grocery shopping. Sasuke had texted him a few days ago, said something about his mother being in the hospital. He hadn't texted him since and Naruto had half a mind to go over there.

He groaned and placed his phone on the cluttered table. Yes, _cluttered_. He didn't have time to work, clean, do homework, and go to school. He worked way too many hours for someone his age but it paid the bills and gave him quite a bit left over after grocery shopping. The place wasn't a complete mess, he did throw his trash away regularly. But laundry being all over the house was a factor. He had dishes but they had been washed and put away. He hadn't used them since his dad died, he just bought paper plates and plastic forks. The place probably needed a good dusting though. Hinata had offered many times to help him out, she was always ahead of her school work, but he wouldn't allow her to. However, sometimes when she came over to hang out he would get a pizza and she would do a load of laundry while he was gone. He didn't like it but it was nothing to yell at her over, she just wanted to help. He usually cleaned everything up when school let out.

Naruto stood and started picking up groceries and putting them away. His eyes kept wandering off to the picture frame mounted on the wall. The big portrait of the Namikaze family. He had moments when he missed his dad so badly he wanted to shut down all functionality and stay in bed. He never stopped missing him, it's just that some days were worse than others. There were days in which Hinata had to come and physically pull him out of bed after he had missed so many days of school. Being on his own was difficult, but that wasn't what upset him, he could deal with that. It was the memory of his voice, his smile, the way he would pick Naruto off the floor and swing him around the room, and more than anything else, the way he scolded him when he skipped school or started a fight.

He lost his dad in the fourth grade, right before school let out. After that, Naruto was sent to live with his great uncle Jiraiya. He stayed with him until he was in the seventh grade, then he insisted on coming back home. Jiraiya allowed it,but he told him he had to get a job. What seventh grader had a job? Child labor laws were a thing..

Naruto worked at just about everything. He worked all through his summers doing odd jobs and saving up money to pay the bills while he was in school as well. This went on until he turned of age to get a solid job, in the summer after the eighth grade, and he's had the same job ever since.

A knock on the door interrupted his reminiscing and yelled through the house, "Come on in!" He finished putting everything away and tossed the plastic bags in a closet. He heard the door open and waited for whoever it was to poke their head around the threshold. "Naruto.."

"Oi?" He was shocked when Neji stepped into view. "You have a minute?" Naruto stared at him in surprise for a second before nodding, "Yeah, what's up?" He pulled out a chair and slid it over to Neji before seating himself. It was rare for he and Neji to even speak, much less have him come over to his home. Neji took the offered seat and swallowed hard, "I need your help."

"My help?" Don't get the wrong impression. Naruto had nothing against Neji and visa versa, but they didn't necessarily get along enough to talk. Not since their fight in middle school.

"It's about Tenten."

"I'm listening." And just like that, Neji practically poured his soul out to him like they had been best friends the whole time. Naruto had that effect on people, he was just easy to talk to.

"I don't know what she wants from me. I can't figure her out."

"What do you mean?"

"I've been having.. _issues._. lately and I've been pushing her away to sort them out. I don't want to push her away but I am."

"To sort out your _issues_?"

"Yeah."

"Alright, what are you telling me?" Neji sighed and looked around. He must have been desperate because even Naruto knew this was a stretch for him. "Naruto your laundry is everywhere."

"I'm aware, Neji. I've been working a lot."

"Why do you not have Hinata clean it?" Naruto paused for a moment, "Okay, would you like for me to tell you everything wrong about that question? Because it might actually help you out with Tenten later on." Neji arched a brow and gave him a look as if to say _sure_.

"Hinata doesn't clean up after me because she isn't my maid."

"But she is your girlfriend?"

"Right, see that's your issue. _Girlfriend_ doesn't translate to _maid_ , and it doesn't translate to _wife_ without a _ring_ , and a wife does a lot of what you're thinking my girlfriend should do." Neji stared at him as he continued, "When you have issues that pertain to yourself, internally, then it's best to take a step back and deal with them alone. However, you have issues but it's not right to say she isn't involved, emotionally, so you need to step up and involve her. If you shut her out to deal with it yourself, she'll eventually leave you because she'll feel neglected."

"How do you get that she's involved with my internal issues?"

"Because of that word, _girlfriend_. You invested time and emotions into your relationship. You brought her in and made her a big part of your life in the past few years. You can't just shut her out. She's on your team, you just have to stop benching her." Neji thought on it for a moment, "So you're telling me that I need to open up?"

"Neji, you need to do a lot of things, and the fact that you have someone like her waiting for you to do it - You're lucky, Tenten is a great catch, but you don't need me to tell you that."

"How are you so good with women, Naruto?"

"I'm not. Not at all, actually. Hinata puts up with a lot. It might seem like we don't fight, but we have before, just not as often now. We're close because, well.. that's a story for later I guess." He stood, "Just stop being a dick and treat her how you would want her to treat you, it's that simple."

Neji stood and slid his hands inside of his back pockets, "Thanks, Naruto."

"Sure." He watched Neji walk to the door and called to him teasingly, "And stop acting like you're entitled to every damn thing, jerk."

"Tch. Yeah." Neji threw his hand up and closed the door behind him.

* * *

Shikmaru answered the door after a soft knock interrupted his gaming experience. "Oh, hey Ino. What's up?"

"Is your dad home?"

"Yeah, he's on the back porch. Go ahead." He held the door open for her and closed it behind her before going back to his video game. Nothing had seemed out of the ordinary to him because Ino was like his sister, so she came over to visit his parents a lot. At one point, their dads had been best friends and they still shared a beer occasionally. But the Yamanaka family moved across town and the two families grew apart over time.

Ino slid onto the back porch and found Shikaku smoking and sitting on the porch stairs. "Hey.." He looked over his shoulder at her before smiling and putting his cigarette out, "I was wondering when you were going to come and see me." He stood up and walked over to her, "I've missed my girl." He hugged her tightly and she smiled, "How have you been?" She asked as she took a seat next to where he had been originally, and waited for him to sit back down.

"Oh, I've been alright. Just enjoying retirement."

"Sounds good." He was silent for a moment before continuing, "I've heard a little bit about you this week, what's all that about?"

Ino looked down at her feet, "I don't really know." He nodded and looked forward, "You look lost, kid."

"I feel lost."

"You tell your dad?"

"Yeah, but you know how that goes." Shikaku chuckled, "He's trying. He just should have had a son."

"Maybe you two should have switched." Ino added. "Nah, it wouldn't have been this fun. Plus it would've been hard to explain to the military how I ended up with a blonde daughter." Ino giggled and nodded. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Things staying the same over there?"

"Yeah, they still fight. Mom threatened to leave last week."

"That must've been hard for you to hear."

"Dad crying was the hard part. He tried to hide in the bedroom while mom went out to the store, but I heard him."

"Yeah, I've been there. I've seen your dad cry quite a few times, actually." Ino looked up at him, "Really?"

"We were about like you and Sakura."

"Oh, we had a fight..we aren't really-"

"Yeah you are. You'll see." Ino sighed as if she felt some sort of relief from his words. "You going to tell me what's going on inside of head? or would you like for me to guess at it?"

"Shoot."

"You're lost, and when I say lost I don't mean spiritually. You feel discontent with your teenage life and you need a change but you don't know where or how to come by it. You've tried the flirting with different guys route and I can guarantee you've tried other things that you aren't mentioning. Nothing is making you happy, so you're frustrated and in search of whatever it is that will make you content once more you have selfishly done things to hurt the people closest to you. However, you still haven't found that one necessity to keep you. You feel empty inside, you come home to fighting and possibly divorcing parents, an unfulfilling relationship, and you have all of these crazy hormones running around inside of you."

Ino stared at him wide eyed as usual, when he did this type of stuff to Shikamaru. "Wow." He nodded a silent response before adding, "The best twenty five years of my life were spent in the military service as a warfare strategist. That job comes with having the know how to think not just one, but multiple steps ahead of your opponent. You have to read the situation and the person with one glance because you may not get another. In case you were wondering why I'm so good at this."

"So, I guess you have a strategy on how to fix it, right?"

"Nope."

Ino sat on the back porch with Shikaku until dark, just chatting away. He seemed to enjoy talking to her and developed a pretty good insight on what had been going on with her school life and he crumbing social life. When she yawned and stretched out on the porch Shikaku yelled at Shikamaru to take her home, he didn't want her to walk in the dark. "Oh it's okay, he's probably busy with his game."

"And when have I ever cared? Shikamaru, get out here!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm here." He walked out onto the back porch, swinging his keys. "Straight there and straight back, boy."

"As usual. Come on, let's go."

"Thanks.." The two slid into his automobile and pulled out of the large driveway. At first, Shikamaru was quiet as he allowed his eyes to adjust to the dark. He broke the silence briefly by asking, "So, did you get what you needed?"

"Yeah." The rest of the car ride was silent until he dropped her off at her front door, making sure to walk her up the stairs so he could see his uncle, Inoichi. "If you need anything, just text me or something. Even if it's just to talk." He mumbled before Inoichi let them in and the hugs and laughter began.


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: Thank you guys so much for all of the support and reviews! I read and appreciate all of them, you're all great! My inspiration for this fanfiction, because I realize there are numerous amounts of Naruto High School fanfics to choose from, was just my high school experience alone. I wanted the scenarios to be something someone could relate to. Everything that I put Kishimoto's characters through, I witnessed from the many different friends and acquaintances I made in high school. I am also included in this story, though I'm not going to tell you which character ;) Anyway- just some food for thought, hope you guys enjoy!_

* * *

 _Holding On By A Thread_

Monday morning came along quicker than anyone expected and Hinata found herself at her locker beside her yawning boyfriend. "You starting to get used to your new schedule?"

"Yeah, it's not so bad." He smiled and held one of his arms out, motioning for her books. "Oh I can carry them, Naruto. It's okay."

"Come on, at least let me pack 'em." She gave in and placed her books in his arm. "Thank you for doing my homework last night, I'm sorry I dumped it on you."

"I only helped, Naruto."

"No, you pretty much did all of it. You're a genius, Hinata."

"Oh well I don't know about all that.."

"Oi, Hinata." Both Naruto and Hinata stopped with a flustered Kiba in front of them. He didn't look embarrassed, he looked more so mad than anything else. He was sending out so many mixed signals by the tone of his voice that Naruto wasn't what was about to transpire. "Y-yes?" Hinata was back to her usual calm self after the weekend.

"Listen, Hinata," Naruto's brows arched and he gently placed the books on the floor next to him, however no one seemed to notice and there were a few people stopping to stare since Kiba looked so upset. "I wanted to talk to you about what you said to me the other day."

"Oh? Okay." Hinata laced her fingers together as she waited patiently. "I just don't think it was right for -" He stopped and looked over at Naruto, "for..umm..Naruto, are you alright?" Naruto brows were furrowed and his bright blue eyes were narrowed on him, "I'm just listening, Kiba." Kiba arched a brow and looked to the books on the floor beside his feet then up at the clenched fists by his waist. "Oh, whoa-whoa, no that's not what I'm getting at here. When did you pt those books down?" He pointed to the books on the floor, "Why does it matter, Kiba? Finish what you were gonna say."

"Right, yeah. Like I was saying, I don't think it was right for me to take my anger out on you when all of that went down. I did some thinking and Naruto was right. I may be mad at Ino or whatever, but I still care about her. And I didn't have any right to make fun of your glasses or call you names like I did. You were just speaking your mind, it's not like you were trying to deliberately offend me. So I'm sorry about all of that." Naruto didn't relax one bit as his eyes averted down to his shorter girlfriend. Hinata hesitated, as if processing the information, "Oh it's okay, I forgive you. I just want everyone to be friends again, I love you guys so much, right Naruto?"

"Well yeah!" His scowl converted to a bright smile once she had spoken her peace. "Absolutely, you're my best friend, Kiba. We'll all get by this crap in no time! Don't sweat it."

"Yeah, you're right." His face was still flustered and he still looked angry or agitated over something. "Are you alright, Kiba?" Hinata asked timidly.

"Yeah I just feel a little sick, honestly." Naruto immediately covered his mouth with a sleeve and grabbed the books by his feet before heading down the hall, "Stay away from me."

Hinata giggled a little and Kiba gave her a knowing look. Naruto was the easiest person to get sick come flu and illness season. Not only would he catch it quickly but he would keep it for weeks at a time, so anytime someone even mentioned being sick he would bail. "Hinata don't stand too close to him, come on!" He yelled down the hall and Hinata bid him a _see you later_ and followed after Naruto, "I'm on my way."

"And wash your hands, that nasty germ factory was right in front of you."

"Naruto he said he just felt ill-"

"Here, I have some hand sanitizer, use as much as you feel necessary."

"Naruto.." She groaned a little and accepted the heaping amount of mixed alcohol he squeezed out onto her hand. "...Thanks, dear."

* * *

Tenten arrived to her advanced class a little bit late that day, so all of the seat by Neji were taken. It didn't bother her that much, she had no problem sitting away from him. It was just a matter of not wanted him to be upset and bitch about it later. She sat close to the back, in front of a red head she was very familiar with; Gaara. A lot of people were afraid of Gaara, he didn't used to be as nice as everyone knew him to be now and his looks weren't all that inviting. He did, however, offer her a smile when she sat in front of him.

Tenten had never had any problems with him, but she knew of a few people who did in the past. Like Naruto, Lee, and even Sasuke. To her knowledge, everything was cool now, and Lee was even his best friend. She seen them walking together outside of school the other day. She smiled at the thought, she was glad Lee had a good friend. Everyone seemed to take his kindness for granted. She felt a hand on her shoulder and instinctively leaned back for him to whisper in her ear, "You didn't miss much, we have to homework assignments due tomorrow. Pages 342 and 347. I'm sorry I missed you last weekend, Kankuro told me you came and spent some time with Temari. I was at a family members place." Tenten nodded and mouthed her _thanks_ and also an _it's okay, maybe next time_.

She looked forward, expecting to see Nejis glaring eyes but it seemed he was lost in thought. Sasuke was taking notes and everyone else seemed bored to death. Tenten sighed and straightened in her seat before pulling out her notepad to take notes herself, she couldn't help but wonder, however, what had Neji so spaced out.

* * *

After school Sasuke found himself at the community gym, where he fancied boxing to pass his time. It was a good hobby and it let off tons of steam. Doing this allowed him to clear his head and thinking about things other than home life.

He swung at the stuffed leather bag until sweat poured down his chest and soaked his tank top. Images of his father wrapping his hands around his moms neck kept resurfacing. The sound of Itachi jabbing their dads ribs rang fresh in his ears. What a dysfunctional, white picket fence family. He swallowed hard, he wanted to cry or scream or just anything really. He wanted to be violent, to maybe lose control or knock someone else out of spiral. His blows became faster and hard, his anger intensifying the rate at which he accelerated his movements. Why did he have to be the responsible big-little brother, why did he have to feel like he was close in second to his dad? Like his brother was a disappointing first? Why could his dad just stop screaming for once and open his ears?! He never listened! When someone challenged his opinion he went off on them and left for five days straight! Let his wife and kids home, wondering if he was ever coming back! And when he did decide he was okay enough to act like a half functioning adult he came home and choked the mother of his kids half to death!

Why didn't he just lay into him?! Why didn't he stop the fighting sooner?! Why did he let him scream at his mom like that?! Why didn't he just fly off the handle one good time?!

The leather bag gave way and came unhinged. It collapsed to the floor with a loud thud. Sasuke struggled to catch his breath through his blind rage. It was like being plunged into a dark room full of smoke. His chest tightened and he felt a panic attack coming on. The gym was empty, leaving him alone to deal with his problems. His throat started to burn and his eyes watered. He fell to his knees trying to catch his breath and keep himself from hyperventilating. His mind was racing, trying to find an answer to so many questions when it suddenly halted.

 _I love you, I promise._ A familiar voice filled his head, _You don't have to keep secrets from me, you're my best friend, Sasuke._ He slowly came off of his anxiety attack and stared at the cold tiled flow beneath his knees, _Just talk to me, I'm one text away ya know?_

The smell of strawberries and spring encased him. Then he remembered her green eyes and strawberry blonde hair. Her face burnt into the back of his mind.

That's why. That's the reason he held everything together by a thread; she was the thread.

* * *

"Oi, Temari." Kankuro stepped into the house a little later than usual after that school day. Temari was seated on the couch with Shikamaru on the floor between her legs playing a video game. "What?"

"When is that friend of yours coming back over?"

"Who? Tenten? I don't know, why?"

"You should invite her over again sometime." Kankuro smirked suggestively and Temari's brows raised, "Shut up idiot, she has a boyfriend."

"Like I care." He shrugged, "Invite her over for me." Shikamaru bit down on his bottom lip. There was a storm brewing and Kankuro was the caster. He didn't like the sound of any of this, even if Temari didn't invite her, he knew Kankuro well enough to know he would find a way to talk to Tenten on his own terms.


	10. Chapter 10

_Keeping The Peace_

It was Sakura's first day back at school and she was none too excited. She was the worlds worst to have a guilty conscious. She was already on edge with everything happening in Sasuke's family. Sasuke didn't talk a lot about his problems, he and Naruto had that in common. Both of them were too stubborn to complain or admit they were in over their heads.

She sighed and headed to her first class of the day, with the rest of the gang. She entered the room and noticed everyone was unusually quiet and things were tense. She didn't have to look in Ino's direction to know she was present, same as Kiba. Kiba didn't look as mad as she had last remembered. She took her seat next to Sasuke and laid her head on the desk before her. Sasuke was leaned back, chewing on gum, and scrolling on his phone. She caught his attention because Sakura wasn't the type to come in and plant her face in the desk. She wasn't looking at him so she couldn't see his inquiring look. He gently nudged her and she turned her head toward him.

Sasuke was typically an expressionless person, he believed that not every situation deserved a reaction. So he just stared down at her when she looked up at him with watery eyes. Sakura cried when she was under a lot of stress of pressure and it wasn't that she cried a lot, it was more so that she cried to him every time so he was accustomed to seeing it. That didn't mean he liked it anymore than the next person. He sat his phone down and arched a thick dark brow. She shook her head and shrugged.

Sakura didn't know why she was crying. She hadn't been crying when she entered the room, or at least she didn't think she was. Sometimes that happened though, her eyes would just water when she hadn't even thought of anything sad. It gave a whole new meaning to your body knew what it needed with or without you.

She closed her eyes and thought for what felt like forever, but Sasuke pegged it at ten minutes. She thought about the previous situation and how she handled it. How she violently pulled Ino from her seat. And all because Kiba ran his mouth, when had that ever made a difference to her before? It was all just blind anger. She felt betrayed for obvious reasons, but Sasuke didn't hide it and he handled it pretty well. Maybe Ino needed a friend more than a jealous girlfriend to talk to. Sakura felt like the lowest form of life at that point. She was a shitty friend.

Sasuke wasn't the best for situations like this. Normally Sakura would just cry it out in front of him, he wasn't much of a comforter. He didn't really have anything cool or funny to say to make her laugh, that was more of Naruto's thing.

Choji stepped into the room with his bag of morning chips. The first thing he noticed was Sakura with her head down and his shoulders slumped. He looked at Sasuke who shrugged and motioned to her. Choji gave him a look that said _really, right now_? Sasuke noded and glared, _just do it._

"Heeeey Sakura ! Haven't seen you in a few days!" Sakura looked up at him, her eyes puffy and red, "Oh, Hey Choji."

"Oh don't do that! Hey, look, you want some food?" He gestured toward his bag of chips and Sakura shook her head no, "Oh come on now, why don't you just smile for all of us? We love your smile, ask Sasuke." Sakura blushed and looked over at Sasuke who had wide eyes as he was put on the spot, "Well yeah, of course, it's... one ... of my ..many..things that I love about you." He gave her a smile, which was rare for him because he didn't enjoy smiling at all. Sakura laughed lightly at his expression. She could tell he was trying, "Thanks you two.." She sniffled and Choji looked defeated, "We just wanna see you happy again.." He thought for a moment, "I'll talk to Ino! You two shouldn't fight! Just pretend like it never happened!" He exclaimed as if he had solved all of the worlds problems. "It's not that easy.."

* * *

Neji sat in Mr. Hatake's class, he was leaned back comfortably while the lecture proceeded. To his right, and across the room, was Shikamaru. He appeared to be almost napping. As usual, the girls in the class crowded the front seats. "Idiots.." He mumbled to himself and pulled his phone out. Tenten had been a little quiet all day and he was mildly concerned. Maybe she just didn't feel good or something. Maybe Naruto was right and she had finally gotten tired of him.

He chuckled at the thought of Naruto and his house being littered with clothing. There was a time when he absolutely despised Naruto for all of the wrong reasons. Hell, he still didn't really like the guy half of the time, but he made Hinata happy. As long as he was good to her, he wouldn't object to their relations.

He didn't know much about Naruto, but he knew enough to know what he was about. He was a good guy who came from a really rough childhood. He was used to drama and fighting because of that sorry bunch he hung around with. Shikmaru was one of them. Neji glanced his way to find him still snoozing. It was because of what he knew about Naruto that he sought him out for advice. He wasn't just good with the female species, he was good with anything emotionally involved because he was so naive that he felt literally everything for everyone. He had a huge heart, not even Neji could deny that. If you need someone to cry to, Naruto was your man.

However, there were things about Naruto that not everyone knew, or they just ignored bluntly. Sometimes in popular groups it's socially acceptable for someone to be a certain way because they are well liked by many. That was Naruto's case, at least. It hadn't bothered Neji that he went to Naruto for advice, anyone would, and he knew Naruto wasn't the type to hold grudges. Even if he didn't like you he didn't have it in himself to steer you wrong.

Neji played with his pencil as he thought about his little cousin and Naruto. The things no one knew about, that he had mentioned previously, had been the fact that Naruto was completely nuts. Let's not use the terms _nuts_ or _crazy_ lightly here, because it's meant to be so. it's not meant as a joke or an exaggeration. Naruto was literally crazy. He doesn't come off as such on first impressions or anything, but Neji knew for a fact what kind of person he was.

Naruto was mentally unstable no matter how much he played pretend. He was a great guy to talk to, but there were certain things that peeved him. One of them was his friend, Sasuke. Neji had spent quite a while psychoanalyzing his cousin's boyfriend. He worried about her. Not that he thought Naruto would ever hurt her, but he could certainly scare the hell out of her given the opportunity.

He shifted in his seat and groaned inwardly. He already knew enough to skip the days lecture, but he wanted perfect attendance. Speaking of perfect attendance, he hadn't seen Lee patrolling the halls yet. That was really weird.

"Oi, Shikamaru, wake up or go home." Kakashi added nonchalantly to the end of his long winded sentence, before starting up his lecture once again. Shikamaru sighed heavily and nodded in response.

* * *

Hinata closed her locker gently and neck to her, in his own locker, was someone she hadn't seen in a while. "Gaara, there you are!" He smiled down at her, "Hey, how are you?"

"Oh I'm just fine, where have you been? I've been a little worried." It wasn't weird for Hinata to worry about literally everyone. "I was caught up with an early assignment so I spent my last two weeks worth of mornings in the honor society room." Hinata nodded in understand. Gaara was a very sweet person, and very smart. He was head of their schools honor society and school hadn't been in session long. "Sounds like you're as busy as always."

"Well, you know me. How have you been? Where is Naruto?"

"Oh I've been alright I guess, and he's with Sasuke getting snacks for our free period."

"Well you should be great, not alright." He smiled and closed his locker, "I better get going. Tell Naruto I said hey, please? Oh and try not to stress yourself out." He knew Hinata pretty well through mutual friends. She was the sweetest person he had ever met. Naruto was one of his good friends, but his best friend was Lee.

Hinata watched him head down the hall and she turned her heels in the opposite direction and ran smack into someone's chest. She stumbled back a little and gasp, "Oh my gosh, I'm sorry. I didn't see you." She straightened her glasses and looked up at this tall red headed boy.

"You mean you have glasses that thick and you still didn't see me?" He scoffed, "Whatever, just move."

"I'm sorry? You can go around, thanks. I hope your day gets better." She stood with her books held tightly to her chest. "Look, sweetheart, I don't go around anyone. Man or woman, so don't think just because I'm new here you're going to make something out of me."

"No one is trying to make anything out of you, you're the one making an ass out of yourself. I wasn't aware you were new and I will apologize for making you feel uncomfortable, but you shouldn't talk to people like that. It's very rude."

"Awh, did I hurt your feelings, little mouse?" A slightly shorter boy with slicked back white hair stood next to him, "Our first day and you've already met someone you didn't like. She does look like a mouse, though." He smirked down at Hinata, along with his red headed companion. She took a deep breath and gave them a quiet smile, "Boys, you don't want to start your first day like this. I urge you to learn some manners, this is not a ghetto."

"Oh, are you saying we're from the ghetto?"

"Did those exact words pass my lips? No, they did not, now if you will excuse me. I have no interest in standing here and arguing with you." She looked up into their cold eyes, she was used to bullies. Well, not so much since she met Naruto, but back in the day it was an everyday thing.

"Oh, she's pretty feisty. I wonder if she's a rat?" Hinata took a step back, planning to go around them when two long fingers hooked onto her glasses. He pulled them from her face and flicked them to the ground. His heavy boot crunched them with one step and barely any effort from him. She gasped and looked down as her vision went blurry. "I guess we'll find out." They shared a laugh and his strong hang grabbed her face. He mushed her cheeks and pulled her forward, "Do me a favor and keep your mouth shut?" With that being said, he headed on down the hall with his white haired friend in tow.

The hallway was quiet, everyone heard the popping sound of her glasses under his boot. Hinata gathered herself and picked up her crunched glasses before making her way down the hall and into the empty classroom that everyone resided in during their free period. It had appeared Naruto and Sasuke weren't back yet, neither were the others. The only one in the room was Ino, she watched Hinata throw her glasses in the trash.

"Wow, what did you do to those?"

"The same thing as last time."

"You're kidding? Why is your face red?"

"It upset me.." She lied through her teeth to Ino. She felt bad for it, but she forced herself. She couldn't afford to have word get back to Naruto.

"Oi, we have snacks!" Naruto yelled as he entered the room with Choji, Sasuke, and the rest of the gang. "You guys are just in time, Hinata plowed her glasses again." Ino added.

"No way," Choji laughed, "again, Hinata?" Everyone made their way to a random seat and Naruto placed the food on the desk, "You alright, Hina? You didn't get glass in your eyes, did you?"

"No, I'm fine. I have a spare set at home."

"Well I know that, I'm just worried about your eyes." Everyone nodded their agreements and turned to her. Naruto was smiling until he looked over at her. Her face was red, "Baby are you upset? You have a spare, hell, you have all kinds. If not, I'll get you some." He smiled and made his way over to her. "Come 'ere." He grabbed her hands and pulled her into his chest. "Don't look so sad." She turned her head to the side and sighed, "Sorry, I guess I'm pretty bummed out about it." Naruto kissed the side of her head before backing off a bit to distribute the food. He reached a bag of chips out to Hinata and she smiled while gently taking them from him. "Thank you."


	11. Chapter 11

_Warning- Some situations described may seem gross, especially if you're male, if you are and it's not- Great!_

 _Also, A little bit of fluff in this chapter.. kinda a lot.. but mostly a little. ._

* * *

 _The Not So Jealous Boyfriend_

Nearly two days later, Ino rummaged through her purse for a tampon as she stood in the girls bathroom. She groaned when she realized she had once again failed to be prepared for mother natures horrendous call. She carried her purse with he to a respective stall and pulled her phone out. Regardless of whether or not she was prepared she had to pee. She couldn't text Hinata because she didn't use women's items, she hadn't even had her period yet. Tenten wouldn't have any either, her family forced her on birth control which stopped her menstrual cycle completely. She rested her head roughly against the stall. Her stomach was literally murdering her in that moment.

" _Here._ " A familiar hand poked underneath her stall from the neighboring one. The nail polish was a lime green and she had a promise ring on her right hand's index finger. "Just take it. I know you forgot it. You _always_ do."

"Thanks." She gingerly plucked the tampon from her hand. "How did you know it was me?"

"You walk on your toes."

"I do not.." Ino cracked a smile and shook her head.

"Yes, yes you do, Ino."

Ino washed her hands and checked her make up in the mirror. They weren't allowed to wear a lot, given their schools policy, but she got by with what she could. Sakura walked out of the stall behind her and committed to her hygiene as well by washing her hands vigorously. "This soap smells so nasty." She commented.

"I know, it's thick like syrup too." Both girls cringed as Sakura rinsed and dried her hands. "You look fine, Ino-pig. Stop torturing the mirror."

"I have nothing else to do with my free time." Ino said before adding suggestively, "Unless you want to go with me to get our nails done after school.." Sakura stared at her for a moment before swallowing hard and smiling, "Sure, I'd love to."

Ino nodded and cleared her throat, "Well let's get out of this bathroom and back to class." They exited the small bathroom and headed down the same all. It was first period and they were both late. "You think we'll get yelled at?"

"Probably." Ino sighed and slid her purse further onto her shoulder. "He hates all of us anyway, not like it matters."

"It doesn't seem that way to me. " Sakura smiled as they drug their feet. The silence between them was a little awkward but nothing that couldn't be tolerated. They stopped in front of their classroom door and mentally prepared themselves. "It's Wednesday, we can do this."

"Yeah," Ino nodded and looked over at Sakura, "I guess we can."

"Duh, piggy." Sakura smiled and teased, "Shut up, forehead." They laughed and entered the classroom.

Choji and Shino stared but Naruto cleared his throat and averted the awkward attention from them by being obnoxious, "So are we actually going to use this shit in life or...?"

"Naruto, language!" Everyone shared a laugh as the girls took their seats.

* * *

Tenten was headed for her locker right before her fifth period class. She fiddled with her skirt and tossed her long braided hair over her shoulder as she rounded one of the corners. She was humming one of her favorite songs as she approached the familiar set of lockers and picked out her own.

The hall was crowded as usual, so she took her time fiddling with her things and exchanging books. "Hey you." A tall, tan glass of water leaned against the lockers beside her. "Oh, hey Kankuro!"

"How you been?"

"Oh, I've been wonderful. What about you?"

"Oh I'm good. Just peeped you from down the hall, thought I'd say what's up."

"Oh well that's nice of you." Tenten smiled and closed her locker, "You have a boyfriend, don't you?" He asked with a mischievous smirk on his lips. "I do. I have for quite a while now." She nodded. He arched a bow, "You know, if you would ever want to change that..." Tenten felt her cheeks heat up, "O-oh."

"I don't mean any disrespect, I don't want to make things awkward for you and Temari, but I dig you." She was taken aback by how forward he was about it, yet she was flattered. "Thank you, I appreciate you telling me. I'm very content with where I am, loyalty means a lot to me and I love him very much. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. Faithfulness looks good on a girl." Tenten smiled and Kankuro looked above her head just a bit, "You mad?" She was confused at first, but felt a very familiar arm slip around her shoulders. _Neji._ How long had he been standing there? "Nah, nothing to be mad about." He shrugged.

"I just made a pass at your girl." Kankuro stood from his leaned position.

"Yeah, I heard," Tenten looked up at him. His long black hair tickled her neck, " and you got your answer, didn't you? I don't blame you," He pulled her closer to him, by her shoulders, and smiled, "she's beautiful."

Kankuro smiled and nodded in agreement, "Yeah, she really is." He started to turn away, but looked at Neji once more, "Don't slip up." With that being said he made his way down the hall, casually.

"I'll keep that in mind." He smirked and looked down at his brunette, freckled girlfriend. Tenten blushed and bit down on her lip, but she couldn't take her eyes off of his. Neji had some of the most beautiful gray eyes. He pressed his forehead to hers and kissed her lips gently. She melted instantly. Here was her boyfriend; The person she decided to love and hopefully never lose for as long as she could even comprehend, a guy that wasn't into PDA in the slightest, and his eyes had a different shine in them today. His attention was on her, which made her feel unusually vulnerable all of a sudden. She pulled away with a deep blush on her cheeks. "We should get going." He smirked and took her smaller hand into his and guided her down the hall.

* * *

Gaara sat in his sixth period class listening to their brief lecture before assignment. It was an art class so it wasn't that hard to keep up and he didn't lecture the entire period, so there was free time. He was seated next to Lee, whom was quieter than usual, as he mapped out their assignment silently. Lee watched him until they were set free to do as they please with their sculpting materials and clay.

"The idea is to create a three dimensional pattern in the clay, think we could manage that?" Gaara inquired. Lee shrugged and had his arms folded, "Something wrong, Lee?" Lee was usually so energetic and loud. Gaara, on any other day, had to muzzle him long enough to complete work. "You can tell me.." He reassured.

"...I don't want to cause trouble.."

"What do you mean? Anything that starts out like that is bound to cause trouble.. I won't tell anyone though, you know you can trust me." Gaara tried to smile, but he wasn't too great at it.

"Well.." Lee lowered his voice, "I heard something this morning when I was doing my patrol.."

"Heard what?" Gaara was hooked at this point. He wasn't much for gossip but if it had Lee this bummed out he wanted to hear it and possibly beat someone. He gently laid his hand over his for comfort, Gaara wasn't good at comfort. He was so socially awkward it was almost crippling, but Lee was a really good friend.

"People were talking about an incident that happened when I wasn't around.. a group of guys and girls were laughing about it. I heard Naruto's name mentioned so I listened it. I'm used to hearing gossip and I expected to hear the usual stuff, but what they said wasn't about Naruto at all." Gaara arched a brow, "It was about Hinata.." He whispered her name.

"Hinata?"

"Someone had backed her into a corner in the hall, broke her glasses and put their hands on her. I don't know how true it is, because it seems like Naruto would be all over that by now. They said it was just the other day"

"We would definitely be hearing about it already, that's for sure. It doesn't sound right. Who supposedly did it?"

"One of them is Hidan and the other, the one that touched her, I'm not sure of his name but.." Gaara nodded to the corner of the room at a red headed kid with multiple piercings, seated next to a girl with dyed blue hair. "They are new, came in some time last week.."

"That doesn't make sense.. maybe we should talk to Naruto.."

* * *

After School:

Hinata jumped onto Naruto's bed and dove behind it. A Nerf dart just barely missed her head. She crawled underneath and fired from below. Naruto hid behind the bathroom door, giving her enough time to crawl out and onto her feet. She scurried out of the bedroom and into the hallway. "Don't chicken out now, come back!" She heard Naruto running after her as she galloped down the hall gracefully. She hid under the kitchen table expertly and watched him bypass her and go into the living room. Once the coast was clear, she dart back to the bedroom and under the bed.

Why? Because she was out of darts and there was no way Naruto was going to win this game! She remained quiet as she tried to still her labored breathing. She heard footstep heading back her way. "Hinaaaa~"

"You know there aren't very many places for you to hide and the closet is wide open, so you know what that means, right?" He chuckled and a large hand wrapped around her ankle. She squealed as he yanked her from under the large piece of furniture, "Naruto, no!"

"Hehehehe.." She dropped her gun and grabbed his forearms trying to throw off his aim, "Someone is out of darts!"

"Naruto don't!" When she found she couldn't deter his aim in the slightest, she brought her arms up to try and cover as much of her body as she possible could. "What? What happened to the merciless Hyuga assassin?" He mocked the name she had given herself when their game had first started. She giggled and clenched her eyes shut, "I give up, you win." He had a grin on his face like no other. He looked through the scope of the toy gun and aimed it up and down her body. Of course, he took his time since he had her under magnification. Her curvy hour glass figure was more than appealing and her porcelain complexion made him almost envious. However, it was obvious she was beautiful, to him at least, and he was ridiculously proud of that.

"Naruto, you've won already! You don't have to do this!" Naruto's blue eyes were pulled from her body and he smiled as he laid the toy gun on the floor beside them. "I guess I'll have mercy on you, just this once." She laughed and he parted her arms so he could make easy access of her mouth. His lips crashed against hers in a none too gentle manner. Then again, he was never gentle with anything. She smiled and giggled into his mouth as he gently bit down on her bottom lip, she refused to open her mouth at that so he tickled her side. Hinata squirmed and gasped, being extremely ticklish, giving Naruto the perfect opportunity to shove his tongue in her mouth.

Once he started it, she gave in. His rough hands wandered her body, but he was aware of his boundaries and he didn't cross them. He was pretty restricted to her hips, waist, and outer thighs. Not that he minded, just sometimes temptation would literally beat his door down.

The blond moved from her mouth and trailed kissed down her neck and to her collarbone, he stopped there and gave an appreciative nibble. She gasped and gripped his shoulders. Hinata didn't really have boundaries on Naruto, he just didn't care. The only thing stopping him from throwing her on the bed in situations like these was _her_. _Her_ wants. _Her_ needs. _Her_ boundaries.

Hinata had a pretty good head on her shoulders and he loved that about her. She didn't care to tell him no and then give him a reason, whether he liked it or not. She was sweet and lenient with him, but she didn't allow him to run over her. Naruto thought she was perfect in every way imaginable.

She gave him a light push and he took the hint. Naruto stood up and lifted her up with him. "That was fun, we should do it again." He had a smirk on his face. Hinata blushed and shook her head, "The Nerf battle, right?"

"Sure." He laughed and rolled his shoulders, "You hungry?"

"Yeah, a little."

"What do you feel like? Pizza, Hispanic, Chinese, Hawaiian, I think that new Japanese restaurant is open now?" He tossed out ideas for her to ponder over.

"Do they do take out?"

"Take out? Are you going to sit here while I go eat?" He laughed and arched a brow.

"I look awful, Naruto. I shouldn't go in anywhere."

"You do not."

"I'm wearing sweatpants for goodness sake."

"I don't give a rat's hairy ass what you have on, besides, I like those on you. They show off those hips.." He bit down on his lip as his eyes did a quick once over of her figure. "Naruto-!"

"Come on, lets go." She sighed and ran a hand through her hair before following him out. It was a no win argument, so she may as well suck it up and go.

* * *

Meanwhile:

Tenten sat cross-legged on Neji's bed as his flipped through a history book. It was homework night and Neji suggested they do it together, so things would progress faster. He leaned back in his computer chair and propped his feet up on the bed.

Tenten grinned and poked the bottom of his foot with the back of her pen. He lazily moved his foot while mumbling, "Stop.." She giggled playfully and went back to her writing.

Silence took over the room before she broke it, "You surprised me today.."

"Hn?" He grunted while keeping his eyes glued to the history book. "When Kankuro met me at my locker, I didn't know you were there."

"Yeah." He answered nonchalantly, "I do that sometimes."

"That's not what surprised me. It was how you handled it that surprised me."

"Hn."

"I don't know what I would've done, but I love how you handled it."

"I was literally two seconds from knocking his teeth loose." He admitted dryly, still flicking through pages. Tenten covered her mouth and shook her head, "Well, you held your temper then and that's even better! I mean it, I'm really proud of you." Neji looked up from the history book and held his hand out to her. She knew what he wanted, so she laid her hand in his and he pulled her forward just enough to kiss her gently. It was a chaste kiss before he released her back to her seated position.

Neji went back to flipping through the many pages and silence once again took over the room. Tenten hummed, as she usually did, and went back to writing. "So, Neji," He arched a brow to let her know he was listening, "you want to do something crazy together?"

"My parents are home." He replied without even looking up. "Besides, you don't want a repeat of last time. You talked all of that game and ended up face down in the mattress screaming my-"

"N-not that!" Her face was flushed blood red when he looked up from his reading and he smirked, "Then what?" She leaned forward and whispered, "Matching tattoos."

"What?!" He almost yelled and she shushed him, "Don't yell, I'm serious. Let's get matching tattoos."

"We're not old enough, even so, that's not very tasteful."

"I have a family artist who would do it, not questions asked. Just don't get something stupid. Make it tasteful, come on." She looked to really have her heart set on it. "Tenten my mother would hemorrhage."

"She has tattoos."

"Those are ancient Hyuga clan marks-"

"Still tattoos."He sighed for a moment and thought about it before responding, "This family artist is licensed and clean?" He was actually thinking about it! Tenten's eyes lit up with excitement as she nodded, "Yes. He's done all of my family's ink. He's the real deal."

"And this will be decided tastefully?"

"Yes, I promise, we can take our time picking." He bit his lip and cleared his throat, "Alright." Neji didn't dislike the idea of tattoos, but he believed they should be positioned and drawn tastefully. He wasn't about to put just anything on his body. That and it made him feel a little better that she wanted to get a _matching_ tattoo with him. He had planned on getting one after graduation, but now was a good time too.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Sorry for any spelling mistakes- I'll go back and edit it -again- after I'm done.

* * *

Please Don't Tell The Goofball

That next evening, after school, Sasuke made his way into his house. His father's car was parked out front in it's usual spot next to his mothers and the door was wide open. This would've been normal had it been warmer outside. He closed the door behind him and looked around the living, which was torn all to pieces. "Mom?" He stepped over broken pieces of furniture as he made his way to the kitchen. "Mom?!" There were plates and glasses shattered about and littering the counter tops and floors.

Sasuke pulled out his phone and called the only person he knew he could trust, other than Sakura: Naruto. He answered on the second ring, Sasuke never called him. "Yo, Sasuke?"

"I need you to come over here, don't ask questions."

"Right." Naruto ended the conversation with a click. Sasuke dared to venture up the stairs, "Itachi? Mom?" He made it half way up the stairs when a series of pounding began to echo the house.

"Come out of your damn rooms! Both of you! One of you!" Sasuke recognized his father's voice and made his way to the top of the stairs. He was beating on Itachi's door in a fit of rage. He looked deranged and red in the face. Had he trashed the entire house?

Sasuke clear his throat and spoke up as he stepped out into the hall, "Dad?" He continued to beat of the door as if Sasuke wasn't even there. "Come out of your damn room you suicidal psycho!"

"Dad!"

"You're just as bad as your mother, maybe you'll both help each other cross the rainbow bridge!" He grabbed the door nob and tried to twist it in an attempt to break it off, "You're both going straight to hell!"

Sasuke's chest tightened. His jaw locked and he could feel the unfamiliar emotion that was anger, surfacing. Many times before he had held himself back, kept his father at arms length, butted out just enough to protect his mother, allowed his dad to have his hysterical fits of unprecedented rage, but this time it would be different. He was sick of him showing up on and off, hitting his mom, torturing his brother, and just being an ass to the entire family. He had the audacity, the gall, to hold them all to his standard when he wanted to conduct himself like a complete jerk off and mistreat everyone who did things differently than he. He snapped, quite literally.

The air in his lung turned hot and every muscle in his body tightened as his knuckled turned white. He blinked to try and force air out of his lungs, to force himself to breath before he exploded from anger altogether. He blinked and his hands were fists against his fathers chest. He blinked and he had him pinned to the wall at the further end of the hallway. It must have been something in his eye, something that screamed he had reached the end of his thin fuse.

Fugaku's lips were moving but Sasuke couldn't hear anything. His ears, his head, was ringing loudly. He blinked once more and his father was on the floor with his arms covering his face.

He had to stop.

He _had_ to stop.

 _Stop!_

"Sasuke stop!" He snapped back to his reality, a mess in his wake. The hallway was littered with things he had toppled over to-to do what? Long, nimble fingers were locked around his arms. They were tugging at him, pulling him away. He couldn't leave yet! _No_ , he wasn't done! Sasuke fought back against the objecting hands, the hands that wanted him to retreat. He was tired of retreating, sick of lying around for this man to walk on! This man who chose to hurt his mother and his family, the people he was supposed to protect! He deserved so much worse. "Sasuke!" He forced himself out of the original grasp and earned himself inside another pair of arms, "I'm sorry, Sasuke..!" He felt himself lose balance as a tight muscle wrapped around his neck- an arm. He blinked again, for the last time, and he was staring at the tiled floor- his airway constricted just enough to make him gasp for air. He couldn't move at all, he grabbed at the arm around his neck until he inevitably lost consciousness.

Sasuke.

 _Sasuke..._

 _Hey Sasuke..._

"Sassssuuuke..." A hand waved in front of his face as his eyes fluttered open. His head pounded and he felt sick, "There you are. Oi, Itachi! He's awake." Sasuke looked up into the blue eyes and smiling face of Naruto. Oh, that's right, he called him. Sasuke rose up and placed a hand on his forehead, "What happened?" He was still sitting in the floor of the hallway. "We had a little situation here, but don't worry everything is fine now. The hallway was cleared, minus the debris that had been knocked off the walls and decorative tables. Sasuke remembered vaguely the feeling of rage, "What did you do to me, dobe?"

Naruto grinned cheesily and scratched the back of his neck, "What are you talking about? You passed out, dude."

"With or without your help? My head is killing me.."

"It's all the same, come on, lets get you some tylenol."

"Where is dad?" Naruto stood and reached down to help him up, "He's downstairs."

* * *

That night, Lee laid in his bed with his arms behind his head. He was confused, so very confused. His mind was a complete mess and his heart just wasn't in the right place as usual. He knew it was wrong to ignore his feelings, but it just couldn't be right. He was raised to believe it was wrong.

 _Best friends, that's all._

* * *

That morning, at the breakfast table, Hinata sat next to Naruto as usual. He was swallowing breakfast like it was water. He never ceased to amaze her. "Are you ever going to slow down?" She asked sleepily. "Huh?" He looked at her, a little clueless. "Oh nothing."

She giggled and watched him ingest just about everything in front of him, miraculously. "Oi, Naruto.."

"Gaara!" Naruto sat up excited and motioned him over, "How have you been?"

"Good, good, and yourself?"

"That same as always."

"Where is Sasuke?" He noted that Sakura was eating breakfast with Ino, both of the by themselves. "He stayed home today, he wasn't feeling all that great." Naruto lied.

"Oh, I hope he feels better." Gaara knew when Naruto was lying, but he also knew when something wasn't his business...most of the time. Hinata smiled at him when he looked over at her. He noticed her glasses had a red frame, instead of their usual black. "Your glasses.." He started and Naruto laughed, "She broke them again, as clumsy as ever." Hinata nudged him playfully. Gaara stared at Hinata for just a second, long enough to get his point across. _He knew_.

She froze and swallowed hard. Her eyes widened and she gave him a look that said _don't._ He was a little taken aback, but recovered in time to talk to Naruto like nothing happened. She was crazy for keeping secrets like that from him. Because when he found out about it..

"So, any girlfriend yet?" Gaara blushed and shook his head, "No, Naruto."

"Why not? You're a good looking redhead, I'd date you." Gaara laughed and shook his head, "I'm flattered."

* * *

Ino had bags under her eyes, the size of which no concealer could handle. Sakura felt terrible for her, her parents had kept her up all night fighting. She had said her dad spent half of the night crying in the bathroom next to her room, while her mother slept soundly. Nothing like the sound of a dying marriage.

Ino poked at her food, she was a heavy dieting type of gal so this kind of food wasn't really her thing. She slid her plate away from her and cringed, "God, that's putrid." Sakura sighed and shook her head, "You need to eat something, you look awful."

"I'd rather not."

"Ino.."

"Missing one meal isn't going to kill me, Sakura." Sakura sighed and shook her head, "You take this dieting thing way too serious."

"Beauty is pain.." She muttered under her breath. Sakura leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes.

"Good morning, Sakura," She opened them to see Sai smiling down at her as he walked by. She smiled back at him and waved. He offered a smile to Ino as well before continuing, "Good morning to you as well, beautiful." Ino looked up at him and a blush dusted her cheek.

Well she did flirt with him a few days ago. It's just now that everything had worn off she wasn't sure if she was doing it for the right reasons, "Good morning." She grinned and Sakura nearly face palmed. The girls watched as he took his seat across the cafeteria, "Oh come on, Ino, what was that?"

"What?"

"That was painful to watch, what kind of smile was that?"

"I..i don't know...! Shut up, forehead."

The bell rang shortly after, dismissing them from breakfast and sending them to their lockers. The halls were filled with chatter and Naruto's loud voice could be hear over all of it. The girls made their way down the hall, it seemed as though they had all flocked together as a group while the guys messed around.

Tenten walked beside Ino, who walked beside Hinata, with Sakura on the end. They maneuvered through the hall as they chattered about their own plans for the upcoming weekend.

The group made a stop at Hinata's locker first. "It'll just be a minute, guys." She grabbed her books and closed her locker quickly. Sakura held her jacket for her, long enough to get this situated. "I've already got my books, I took them home last night. What about you Ino?"

"I'm good." Tenten nodded, "I got mine before breakfast." They headed for their first period, where they assumed the guys had already went. They rounded the corner, giggling and talking the entire way.

"Oh, a new set of specs I see." The group of girls came to a halt in front of a kid with slicked back white hair. He had contacts in from what Ino could tell. She squinted at him, she had never seen him before, "Who are you?" His large hand swung out and knocked the books from Hinata's chest, "Well I guess you're not a rat after all."

"Hey!" Sakura yelled and pulled Hinata back, "What's your damage, psycho?!" Tenten stepped in front of Hinata with her hands on her hips, "Who do you think you are?!" The only one to physically retaliate was Ino. She shoved her hands against his chest hard, "Back off dick, if you knew who her boyfriend was you wouldn't even think about it, asshole. Why don't you go pick on him?" He looked shocked at first that she had the gall to shove him back a few feet. He came back at her and Ino pulled a fist back, "Touch me and you'll see.."

The situation was explosive, but not too much for a whistle to halt. Lee came down the hall blowing the the small piece of plastic, "Whats the problem here?! Hidan, didn't I tell you to get to class not even five minutes ago? It's like you want me to write you up." He pulled out his notepad and Hidan slumped back, "I'm going, I'm going." He sauntered off, leaving them standing there with the mess of littered books.

"What an asshole.." Tenten started to pick up Hinata's books, "Wait until Naruto finds out.."

"No- no, guys please." Tears streamed down Hinata's face. Lee's eyes widened, "Please don't cry.."

"You can't tell Naruto, I don't want him to fight. I don't want anyone to fight..!"

"Hinata.." Sakura rubbed her shoulders gently, "Word is going to get around, he'll find out eventually and he'll want to know why you didn't tell him."

"You know how he is, Sakura, he'll ..he'll.."

"She does have a point." Ino added, "Naruto will definitely tear through this place." Lee nodded in agreement, "How long has this been going on, Hinata?"

"It happened once before, they broke my glasses." Tenten looked just as upset as the rest of the group, "Guys, don't you think Naruto will be even more mad when he finds out she lied to him about it?"

"It's not her fault Naruto is overprotective, " Ino added, "Hinata, maybe you just need to make an exception this one time. Let Naruto whoop someone's ass, then maybe people will get the hint."

"If that were the case they would've gotten the hint a long time ago." Sakura said as she hugged Hinata to her.

"You have the right to defend yourself, Hinata, if you don't want to tell an administrator.." Lee suggested, "I know you don't want to see anyone hurt.. but.."

"Lee is right, if they can put their hands on you then you have the right to put your hands on them." Tenten decided. Hinata looked up at all of them, "I couldn't hurt anyone like that.."

"Remember how you threatened to whoop Kiba?"

"I wasn't serious though, it was just to prove a point.."

"Well you need to prove a point now. Don't let them shove you into a corner. You can do it, we'll be right here. You saw how Ino handled it, she wasn't going to let him push her around, you need to stand your ground."

"Just clock him one good time." Sakura added. Lee's eyes widened, "I shouldn't be listening to this.." He covered his ears, "Go to class, I have no idea what you just said!" They took the hint and ran to their first period, all of them suspiciously late. Naruto had already had Hinata's desk against his and he was waving while grinning like a goofball. She kept her head down and giggled while making her way over to him.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: I am going to give you a fair warning: Different types of drugs are involved in the next chapter, Some character death is about to smack you in the face (maybe not the next chapter but soon), and shit is about to get real.

* * *

 _The Grape Juice Bandit_

Two excruciatingly painful months passed by for our gang, everything appeared to be the same as how we last left them. Naruto was still cluelessly happy at every corner, Neji was slowly working on his egotistic issues, Tenten had yet to orchestrate their getting of a matching tattoo, Sakura and Ino were focusing on getting back to where they were before the drama of first year split them up, Sasuke's home life slowed down just a tad bit- but not by much-, and Hinata- well, she was working on the whole take up for yourself thing.

The Uchiha home was quiet for once in a long time, Sasuke spent two long months full of sleepless nights just listening to his father go off the wall and make himself irate over simple things. Things like laundry being put away in the wrong drawer, the few rugs in the house being crooked or folded over, the curtains being shifted too far to one or the other side, the T.V. being left on, the plush pillows on the furniture being in the wrong places, or the house phone not being hung up.

So many evenings and nights he listened to him unhinge himself in the hallway, the bathroom floor, the kitchen, and even the backyard. At first, he was annoyed and wanted to go out there and shut him- like before- but, it didn't take long for him to realize his father had a real problem. He wasn't sure where it came about, or how he even got it, but things didn't used to be this bad...

Sure, his dad was meticulous about his weight gain and his grades, but this was a whole new level of Fugaku. Sasuke and Itachi had seemed to talk less with each passing day. Itachi remained in his room and he used to come out pretty frequently, 4-5 times a week, but now he was good to come out once or twice. If that..

Sasuke would talk to him through his bedroom door, slide him snacks underneath it, and sit bottled water outside of it. Almost like he were some type of experimental vermin, a caged hamster. Itachi would never answer him back, he would only hear the occasional movement or knock and sometimes the ding of his cell phone as he unlocked it. At least he was listening...

* * *

Shikamaru laid in bed that evening, his head had started to throb. It seemed as though the headaches were only getting worse. Before, minor amounts of tylenol would stop them or sometimes if he sat and played a video game it ceased or slowed down the process a little. However, lately, nothing seemed to work.

Temari and his mom had went through every home remedy possible. He indulged in puncture treatments, pills, teas of many different kinds, and even spa related treatments- due to Temari's nagging.

The headaches would cause dizziness, nose bleeds and just cripple him altogether. His father, Shikaku, finally put his foot down and forced him to see a doctor. When it came to being lazy, he didn't mind that out of his son, but he was strict on his school obligations and if this was going to prevent him from going to school he wasn't having it.

Shikamaru was later diagnosed with Cyclic Migraine Syndrome. That was just a fancy way of saying he would experience migraines, randomly, at any given time of the day or week. He was prescribed medicine, but it didn't seem to relieve enough pressure.

However, he had learned a few things about it in the past few weeks. Certain smells would trigger the attacks, stress, high pitched noises, and the color orange- thanks to Temari and her flamboyant wardrobe-

He groaned and rolled over on his side. He would literally do anything to make it stop, _anything_. Even if it meant sneaking around behind his parents backs and smoking. Not nicotine either. He glanced at his phone, anxiously awaiting the text. The text that would notify him of his latest purchase, from a friend of Kankuro's.

Kankuro had some suspicious friends, but he didn't indulge in the same guilty pleasures as they. However, he had mentioned to Shikamaru briefly that he knew someone who vended a substance that might drive out his problem. It wasn't his first time, Shikamaru had tried weed before from a friend that previous summer. He never knew it could help migraines though, he had actually misinterpreted the use altogether. He never even thought it could be used for medical purposes, but hell, he was willing to try anything at this point.

His phone vibrated and the screen illuminated in the palm of his hand, _"Here."_

* * *

Ino sat on a towel in her bedroom floor as Sakura skillfully mixed a cup of thick black cold wax with a wooden stick. "I wonder if this is painful? It's not supposed to be.."

"I've seen a bunch of tutorials on it, they didn't seem to be in pain."

"I guess we're about to find out.." Sakura spread the wax over a small patch of Ino's exposed leg. It dried quickly and she placed the cup and stick down beside her, "Okay, here we go." Her green fingernails peeled one corner up gently and she started to count, "Just do it, Sakura."

 _Rip._

Ino hadn't flinched in the least bit, "Nope, it doesn't hurt." Sakura nodded and continued with the rest of her leg, "How have you been feeling lately?" She asked Ino as she ripped another long strip of wax from her leg. "I'm alright I guess. What about you?"

"Well, I'm fine, but I'm worried about Sasuke.."

"Is the situation the same?"

"Yeah, only it's worse. He won't even let me come over anymore.."

"It must be bad then.." Sakura finished one leg and moved to the other, "I don't know what he's going to do.." Ino leaned back against the foot of her bed and straightened the towel beneath her.

"What about your parents, they seem fine, but are they really?"

"Well," Ino started and sighed heavily, "I guess mom hasn't left yet, so they must be on some common ground. They argue every night though. Dad cries all the time, I really wish he would stop and.. well just let her go."

"What do you mean?" Sakura ripped another strip off, "Well I mean, she keeps threatening to leave and holding it over his head. He's trying, he really is, even I can tell. If she's going to leave then she should just leave. She's torturing him." Sakura nodded and continued, "My dad doesn't cry, sure he's a big goof and stuff but he never cried before all of this. What is she going to do when-" Ino stopped herself and crossed her arms.

"When what?"

"When he stops crying. When dad finally stops crying and- well, leaves. Then I'll have to choose who to stay with, I'll have two homes and .. two of everything."

"Just let them work it out, you have to stay strong no matter what their decision is. Ending a marriage is hard enough, that's not even mentioning how your children fair with it. Just try to stay strong for your dad."

"That's all I can do. You should do the same with Sasuke, I'm sure he only wants to protect you from whatever it is he's going through.. " Sakura nodded in agreement and switched her places, "You weren't just letting on, were you? This really doesn't hurt? You know you have a higher pain tolerance than I do."

"No, it doesn't hurt." Ino started to mixed another bowl of wax, "Well, not too much anyway.."

"Ino..!"

* * *

Hinata sat at the foot of her bed and flipped through the pages of one of her favorite books. She was a real bookworm in her free time and when Naruto was at work. It seemed like she found herself enveloped in a book more frequently these days, like it was her way trying to escape reality. It worked, to an extent...

Luckily for her, drama had ceased at the perfect time. Lee and the girls had all kept their promises and not said a word to Naruto, as well as Gaara. She was thankful to have understanding friends. However, she still had to face everything she hadn't wanted to on a daily basis: the idea of hurting someones feelings..

Yes, though she hadn't really been given the opportunity to do so just yet, she knew that the next time her bullies would come around she would have no was silently hoping they had just lost interest. It had been two months, after all. Hinata was such an anti-confrontational individual and she hadn't realized it until now, it was no wonder she was easy pickings.

She hated that about herself, if ever there be anything, that was the one thing she could not accept about herself. The one thing she wanted to change, despite the fact that Naruto had told her before she didn't have to change anything, that he would always be there for her. That was their pact, she would do the loving and he would take care of the fighting- that's the way he had put it once upon a time.

Back when they were just kids- hell, they still were- in the fifth grade. It wasn't when she had first met him, she had known him since preschool. He was always the loud mouthed class clown of their group, many times she had remembered seeing his look alike -his father- come and pull him out of school for his behavior. He would scold Naruto as he led him out by the arm and Naruto would have the biggest smile on his face. It was almost like he got into so much trouble just to get a rise out of his father.

Hinata had nothing but fond memories of her encounters with Headmaster Minato Namikaze. He was an average height, always smiling type of man who had eyes as blue as the ones she now looked into everyday. Naruto was a complete copy of Minato, physically anyway. His personality was a little different, he was definitely a lot louder than his father.

She remembered the day Minato died. She had heard about it from her parents, they had told her to be weary of that trouble making young boy who now had no one to hold the reigns on him properly. _That's right_ , they knew he was alone. No one said anything.

At the time, Naruto was already one of Hinata's best friends, because he defended her all of the time. No one bullied her in front of Naruto, but there were times when he wasn't around. When his father died, Naruto became more aggressive and more attached to the friends he already had- which was just about a handful- You could mess with him all you wanted, but the problem lied in other places. His attendance became sporadic, if not nearly nonexistent, and he fell behind in a lot of his work. Naruto's uncle, Jiraiya, stepped in and convinced the boards to promote him. Jiraiya was a traveler, and a wealthy one at that. He could probably pay Naruto's bills now so he wouldn't have to work- but Naruto wouldn't let him. He didn't want handouts from anyone, even if it was just emotional handouts.

Hinata cringed as she recalled the look on his face when she first reached out to him. It had been directly after one of his manic fits, yes _manic_. He was so emotionally unstable in the fifth grade, after just losing his father and having to accept he was alone. She reached out to him and told him she was his friend and that he wasn't alone, he had never been alone. That had been on their last day of school. She had thought he was so mad at her because she didn't hear from him all summer.

But when fifth grade came around...

She smiled and closed her book, she just couldn't read anymore. Her mind kept wandering away to Naruto. She didn't want him to fight anymore, he had done enough up to this point and if that meant she had to drop a pair and defend herself- so be it.

* * *

"Gooood morning, Nejjjjiiii!" Lee called across the cafeteria as he waved frantically. Neji swallowed hard and put a smile on his face, "Hey...Lee." Tenten tried so hard not to laugh at the tone of his voice and the look on his face. He was doing better- a lot better- about being positive and she could tell it was helping him in the long run.

"How are you this morning?"

"The same as yesterday, how about you?" The look on Neji's face had Tenten struggling to keep composure. He was still a little rough around the edges... "Oh I am..well." He smiled and nodded, "Hello, Tenten."

"Hello Lee, good to see you." He said he was well, that was odd. Lee was usually a lot more energetic in his self description than that. Not to mention his posture seemed a little slumped, "You sure you're doing okay?"

"Yes, absolutely! No need to worry here, however, I should get going I have some hall rounds to make. See you guys later." Tenten waved gently and Neji nodded to him. After he was out of earshot, Neji sighed in defeat. "Well.." Tenten arched her brow, "there is something bothering him and it sickens me to know that I am the first one to notice." Tenten smiled and patted his leg, "That's called being a friend, dear."

"it's an awful feelings, he looks so.. I don't know, but it leaves a bad feeling in my chest when I think about it." He cringed and Tenten continued, "That's called _sympathy_ \- I know you're not used to that- but it's okay, I'm here to walk you through it."

"Ha-ha." Tenten giggled at him and Neji reached over and snatched the grape juice from her plate, " _Fine_ , but I'm taking this."


	14. Chapter 14

_A/N: So I decided it would be too OOC to just jump right into all of the hardcore things I had originally planned_ **(with the help of an outside eye/opinion)** _So we''ll just progress at the rate we have been thus far. - for the sake of keeping everyone as close to in character as possible._

 _Also, sorry this chapter isn't as long as the others- I cut it in half._

* * *

 _Mac'n'Cheese Delight_

"Butterflies!"

"No."

"Birds?"

"No."

"An octopus..!"

"What? Oh hell no." Neji looked down at Tenten as he closed his locker, "Why would anyone tattoo an octopus on their body?"

"You said classy and I think it would look classy, not to mention beautiful." He reached out his hand for her to take, "Your fascination with marine life bothers me."

"Your face bothers me." She retaliated nonchalantly and Neji chuckled, "Good." Tenten took his much larger hand and headed to class with him. "I was thinking about cutting my hair?"

"What-No!" She couldn't even imagine Neji with short hair, she didn't want to try. "Why not?"

"Just please no, it's always been long and I like it- it suits you." He smirked and followed her into the classroom.

* * *

Miraculously, Shikamaru had made it to school and had managed through the first five classes. His migraine was numbed out better than he had expected but it wore off every hour or two and he would have to sneak and indulge in the herbal plant to replenish himself.

It actually helped him, that excited him. The only downside was the smell, it got everywhere and it was had to cover. Temari had gave him a bottle of her strongest perfume, as weird as that sounded he would rather smell like a twat factory than a walking joint.

He was walking to his sixth period class when he passed his homeroom teacher, Asuma Sarutobi. "Going to class, Shikamaru?"

"Yes, sir." He smiled and kept walking. He was in an extremely good mood. "Oi, hold on a minute. I need to talk to you."

"Yeah?" He stopped and turned toward the large man that was his favorite, and at times not so favorite, teacher. "I signed you up for the academic challenges this year. All of them- Math, Science, Experimental Chemistry, and Language Arts- i figured you could do good in at least one of them. It'll look good on a college application as well."

"Ah, Yeah, thanks."

"Just make sure you meet the requirements. It's not until the end of the year."

"What are the requirements?"

"You have to have moderately good attendance and pass three different drug tests." _Shit._

"When do the drug tests start? Do I have to sign up or something?"

"They're randomized throughout the year, you won't know it-they'll just pull you out of class."

"Alright, good deal. Thanks." He waved him off and continued to class. There went his buzz, now he was worried about failing a drug test. His parents would murder him. He stepped into class and sat in his usual seat.

How long does marijuana stay in your system? Would he have to down a tub of vinegar or something just to pass the first test? He groaned in frustration and panted his forehead against the surface of the cold wooden desk. "What a drag.." No only was he worried about failing a drug test, but that meant he would have to participate with a migraine. Did he really want to do this? If he backed out it would look suspicious as hell and Asuma would catch on quickly. So he was pretty much roped in for the long hall. "God why.."

* * *

Ino drug herself to seventh period, she was in need of a midday nap. She felt weak after having implemented the stricter portions of her diet this time of year. She didn't have near enough energy to keep going up and down the stairs.

She was on a strict and specific diet that consisted of water and protein- pretty much small amounts of assorted nuts and certain meats-

Her sugar was taken care of through supplements that she took of the morning and night, as well as her vitamins. Why go through all of this you ask? To be pageant ready. Every year Ino took home bronze, silver, or crown at international pageants around the country. Her attendance was perfect at school because once pageant season set in she would be very scarce around these parts.

She had been participating in pageants since she was a little girl, it was a hobby she and her mother shared. This year she had planned to take home her eighth crown and retire from the pageant life. Her mom wanted her to push for ten crowns at the least, but Ino was tired of all of the planning and dieting. She wanted to be fat for a season-well not really but it wouldn't' hurt to eat a few bags of chips-

She sat in the back of her seventh period, looking as miserable as ever. Her complexion was pale and she was dark around her eyes. It didn't help that her parents argued over the same things every single night. She had tried to put in headphones the night before and she could still hear them.

"Hey, are you alright?" She was pulled from her thoughts by a soothing, calm voice. Like a robot, she answered without even turning her head, "Yeah. I'm fine."

"You don't look it.." Her blue eyes glanced over at a pair of cold dark ones. "I'm okay, Sai." He gave her a knowing look, but she didn't catch it as she focused on staring forward.

* * *

After school, Sasuke went straight home instead of stopping by the gym. It was a routine he had altered for the past two weeks. He had way too much to worry about at home.

When he walked through the door, he took note of the wonderful smell coming from the kitchen as well as the laughter that could be heard echoing through the house. His dad's car was gone so that was a good sign. But who was laughing?

He stepped into the kitchen and his mom smiled at him. "Oh there you are! What took you so long?" Standing next to her was Sakura, how had she made it there before him? "What are you two doing?"

"Oh I invited Sakura over to help me cook."

"What about dad?"

"He left on a job this morning, he'll be gone for roughly three days. Why don't you fetch Itachi for me?"

"Yeah.." He looked at Sakura as if wanting her to explain his mother's chipper mood. She just shrugged and he made his way up the stairs. "Oi, Itachi, dinner is ready!" He called down the hall. He didn't receive an answer. " 'Tachi!" He waited but his ears were met with silence once more. He sighed and walked down the hall and to his door, "Mom and Sakura made it, dad is gone for a few days. Want me to bring you a plate?" He waited in the quietness of the hall, "'Tachi?"

He briefly contemplated breaking down the door, but all of it had been dismissed when the hinges squeaked and the nob turned slightly. Sasuke's eyes went up from the moving nob to the pale face of his older brother. "..Dinner, you coming?"

"I'll be down in a minute." Sasuke nodded and left him to it.

"Do you really think the boys will like this?" Mikoto asked as she turned the stove off. "Oh I'm sure they'll love it." Sakura reassured her as she set the table and laid down coasters for the trays of food. For once in many years Mikoto had made something that wasn't organic or super healthy for her kids to eat. With the help of Sakura, who told her it was okay to eat normal people food every now and again, she made macaroni and cheese casserole with stuffing and triple layered chicken parmesan.

Sasuke changed and came back down the stairs, he stared at the food Sakura placed on the table. It all looked great but his eyes were on the mac'n'cheese. "You look hungry, Sasuke." Sakura giggled and tossed a hand towel over her shoulder. "A little.."

He stood and waited for Itachi to enter the room before picking out his seat next to his desires cheesy casserole. "This looks really great, mom." Mikoto smiled at Itachi, "Sakura helped me tremendously. I'm not used to cooking things like this." She gave a light laugh and Itachi smiled, "Thank you, Sakura."

"Oh it was no problem, I love cooking with your mom." The three of them indulged in light conversation over the cooling food until the clanking of dishware caught their attention. "Sasuke.." Itachi pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried not to laugh. He had already spooned out a good quarter of the macaroni and cheese casserole. He stopped mid-third scoop an stared at them, "What?" Mikoto and Sakura lost it as they burst into laughter. His dark brows shot up, "What?"

* * *

Lee sat on his bed and examined the scar on his leg. It was a scar from a past surgery, when he was a kid. Because of it, he never wore shorts. He sighed and flopped back on his bed. He had thought a hot shower would help his situation but it only worsened it.

He was so frustrated at his own confusion. He was nothing like his friends..not in that way anyway. He didn't know what he wanted. He didn't know how to be happy. How does one even approach a relationship? Should he just come out with it? Be blunt about it? No, that could ruin everything. Maybe it would be better to just remain best friends. After all, he was used to ignoring his feelings.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Forgive my spelling errors, I'm forever looking for a Beta reader . Sorry for the wait, I had to step back a moment and question my plot line but we're good!

 **ALSO! I have a poll for this story! You can find it on the top of my profile page! I need you guys to vote, I'l tell you what it's about later, thanks & enjoy!**

* * *

 _Point Break_

Naruto stood at his locker as he exchanged his books. He was running a little late or first period, he nearly skipped out on classes altogether and stayed home. He had woke in a particularly foul mood that morning and nothing would have him.

"Hey..umm..Naruto, right?" A small girl stood a few feet to his right with her hands folded together in front of her. "I-I'm sorry to bother you..umm.. I'm a friend..kind of.. of Hinata's.."

"Yeah? What's up?" He could tell she was extremely shy, but he was pretty sure she was an upperclassmen. "I-I just wanted to ask you something, I haven't seen Hinata in a few d-days. I imagine she's really b-busy.."

"Yeah she's been loaded with homework.." He scratched the back of his neck guiltily because half of the homework was his. "I can let her know you wanna talk to her if you want.."

"Well actually.. I-i.. umm.. is she okay?"

"Okay? Well yeah, I guess. Why?" He tilted his head to the side, "Everything alright?"

"I heard a-a rumor.." Naruto arched a brow. He could already feel his blood start to boil at the very mention of his girlfriend involved in a rumor, "Oh yeah? What did ya hear?"

"I overheard some people talking, s-some guys who were talking about being mean to her...I just wanted to check on her.."

"Being mean to her..?"

"They are the new students..well..were the new students. The one with all of the piercings." Naruto knew the face but not the name, he shared gym class with him. "Red hair?"

"Yeah.. u-umm.."

"What did they say?"

"I don't really want to make p-people mad..."

"I won't tell them you said it."

"Well they talked about b-breaking her g-glasses again.. and c-cutting her hair the next time.. I wasn't sure what t-they meant.."

"I'm not sure what they mean either. I'll talk to Hinata about it, don't worry though- she's fine." He closed his locker and headed down the hall to what was left of first period. He didn't even know the girls name but he had seen Hinata talk to her before, however he still wanted to investigate. His blood was boiling so much at this point that his wrists were hurting from the force of his pulse and his hands were shaking. If she was telling the truth then that meant Hinata had _lied_ to him and someone was bullying her.

He had planned to compose himself before he enter the classroom, at this point in the period everyone would be talking about and being lazy after completing their assignment. Having already been in a sour mood he just couldn't control the urge he had to fling the door open with his foot.

Everyone stilled under his icy blue gaze and Iruka was due to have a cow at any moment, "Namikaze!" His eyes landed on Hinata's as he ignored Iruka's rants about how he should control himself and conduct himself properly in a school environment. He rose his hand and nodded his head while motioning for Hinata to come to him with one finger.

Sasuke had a front row seat to the action and he had honestly never seen Naruto grown so much in his life. The guy was always smiling and joking around, that was just him. However, now he was using muscles in his face that Sasuke didn't even know he had. Jaw was tight and his eyes were narrow, he was pissed.

Every girl in that classroom swallowed hard, they knew exactly what had happened and they were all going to be chewed out before this was over.

With grace, Hinata stood from her seat and walked to the front of the room, "Let's talk outside, Naruto."

"No, let's talk about it right here." Hinata started to object but he cut her off, "Who else knew what was going on, who else knew what happened?" He looked around the room at his _friends._ "Choji? Sasuke?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, dobe." Choji shook his head and shrugged.

"Naruto, this is between us. Let's discuss it outside."

"I had a random person come up to me, five minutes ago, and ask me how my girlfriend was. _So how are you Hinata? Are you okay_?"

"So who knew about it, if that girl knew somebody in here had to know about it. About this guy whose ass will be kicked by the end of the day? Sakura, you?"

Sasuke looked over at Sakura who just looked down. "What the hell is he talking about, Sakura?" Sasuke gave her a look and she didn't answer."

"So you did know. I bet every girl in this room knows. Tenten, Ino..?" They all avoided eye contact, "Well that's great ladies." He took a step make and sighed heavily. His hands were still shaking as he tightened them at his sides. His shoulders were aching from lack of movement. He looked down at Hinata, "You and I need to have a talk. You lied to me." He lips formed a smile but not like his usual trademark grin. Hinata knew what that smile meant, she knew him better than anyone else. There wouldn't be much talking- he was going to ask who and that was it.

"So come on, Hina, let's talk outside.." His voice was a slow as a whisper and he motioned toward the still open door. She took a deep breath. She could handle everyone else losing their shit- but she wasn't prepared for this at all.

* * *

Lee made his rounds on the top floor of the school. Everything seemed to be clean and in order, from what he could see. He rounded the corner and ran right into his best friend: Gaara.

"Oh, sorry!"

"There you are, I've been looking everywhere for you. Didn't you get my text?"

"No, sorry, I haven't checked my phone recently. Is something wrong?"

"You haven't heard? Naruto found out, the entire school is buzzing. They're saying it's going ot be a blood bath. Kankuro in particular is excited."

"He found out about.. that."

"Yeah, they said they could hear him yelling all over the first floor. "

"He must be angry with Hinata.."

"He was at first, but I talked to a few people and they said they seem alright now.. and it's third period. Of course they said he still looks pissed off, but that's Naruto. Once you get him mad.."

"Yeah I know.." Lee sighed and Gaara nudged him, "Don't look so down, it'll all work out. Hey, why don't we grab a bite to eat after school? My treat." Lee was a little shocked at first but he swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded, "Cool, see you in the next class."

* * *

Lunch came around rather quickly as everyone was on pins and needles, literally dreading to have any small amount of free time. The bell rang and Hinata accompanied Naruto as they walked to her locker. She wanted desperately to say something to possibly avoid the upcoming situation, but at this point there was nothing she could say to defuse the short fuse that was her boyfriends. He had a smile on his face but anyone could tell he was livid.

"Well, how about we go off school grounds for lunch? My treat." Hinata made a last valiant attempt.

"No."

"Ooookay then." She smiled and opened her locker. She proceeded to take her sweet time exchanging her books. There was no way he hadn't noticed, "Come on, Hinata. I think they are handing out pineapple juice today, I can get you some extra."

She sighed in defeat as she closed her locker.

The lunch room was packed and everyone was bustling about as usual. The chatter was seemingly normal but Hinata was constantly looking over her shoulder, waiting on Naruto to act out.

They acquired their trays and sat with the usual crowd of friends. Despite all of their constant fighting they all managed to get together for lunch, swallow their pride and set aside their differences, to hang out.

Just when Hinata thought everything was going smoothly, she started to unwind. Nothing made her more on edge than Naruto having it out for someone, simply because he loved everyone and when he was mad enough to go out of his way and say something to you... well she didn't want to be around for that. She finished her food and excused herself to the restroom while everyone continued their conversations.

It was a straight shot there, everyone had cleared out to their break spots for the remainder of lunch. The bathroom was empty and quiet, and there were no signs of life outside of it either. She made her visit quick, washed her hands, and headed back out to her friends. She shut the bathroom door behind her and looked up when a looming shadow encased her. _Shit._

 _Don't make a scene._

 _Don't attract attention to the situation._

 _Smile._

 _Wave._

 _Walk away calmly._

"Those have to be the ugliest red glasses I've ever seen." Hinata smiled and nodded as she glanced over to her group of friends. They all seemed to be goofing about and making conversation, Naruto was kept busy so that was great!

"Yeah, about that, I had much prettier black ones." He had a cold stare, she noticed that quickly. It was a cold and non caring, stoic glare. "I just don't think glasses suit you."

"Well my optometrist would disagree." She scanned the surrounding area for teachers. Not one was to be found. That was just great, no one to pull Naruto off of him but Sasuke, Lee, and Kiba. Oh wait, there was Gaara too..

She mentally noted and took a step to the side, "If you'll excuse me, sorry about before, I don't hate you or anything. I just really need to get back to my friends. Her smile never faltered.

He smirked, "Word around is that your boyfriend will kick my ass." He looked over his shoulder toward her table of goofy friends, "Which one is he? The blond?"

"It's none of your business, you should find a hobby instead of choosing to pick on people."

"What's his name.. Naruto? Yeah, that's it. I have a class with him and I've heard a lot about him too. Heard he's a real warrior around these parts."

"Naruto is the nicest person you will ever meet. That's more than I can say for you."

Hinata could feel her blood boiling at the very mention of Naruto. He wanted to talk about Naruto's past when he was ten times worse than Naruto could ever dream of being. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes briefly. A nail scratched her nose as her glasses were lifted from her face. Her eyes shot open and she glared at him, though her vision was blurry, "Give those back." She kept her voice low as to not cause a scene. He smirked at her, obviously amused at having some sort of control over her reactions, "Wow, you really are blind.." He taunted as he looked through her spectacles. "Give. Them. Back." She was practically growling at him at this point. "I am so sick of your shit."

"I'm sorry, what?" The redhead chuckled to himself as he swung the frames around carelessly.

"I will give you three seconds to give those back to me." She whispered.

"Who do you think you're talking to?"

"One." His eyebrow arched as he positioned the glasses between his thumb, pointer, and middle fingers. "Two." In one movement, they were snapped completely in half. Her brows knitted together as she silently wondered if this was what it felt like to lose one's own shit. There was a smile in his voice as he continued, "Three, right?"

Her chest was on fire, her lungs were contracting at the same rate as her overactive heartbeat. Her muscles tensed and her tendons loosened in her ankles as she slid one foot behind her and rocketed her small fist into his pierced face. Her mouth was open as she had meant to say a few words to him, but as adrenaline would have it, there was nothing coming out of her lungs but a high pitched scream.

The cafeteria fell silent but she didn't notice as she pulled her fist from his face, locked her elbow and sprung it back , aiming directly for the center of his nose. Again, she collided. His multiple piercings were cutting and snagging at the taunt flesh over her knuckles. He stumble, she accelerated toward him and her left fist intervened. Upon collision with his left cheek, he fell to the floor and went sliding into the tables next to them. Chairs were flying around her and everything was happening too fast for her to determine that she was plowing them up just to get to him.

She was fairly certain she felt someone try to grab her waist, but their fingers must have slipped because she was still plowing through the mess of chairs to get to him. Once she found him amidst the debris she straddled his waist and her hands found his throat and hair. He was hitting her but Hinata wasn't feeling it, she was focusing on embedding her fingernails into his throat and eyeballs. She was going to rip out every piercing he had!

A loud whistle broke through to her, "Enough! Gaara, stop! Naruto! Sasuke, hurry!" Her concentration broke and she looked away for a split second. Disaster was ensuing.

There was a blond boy she didn't recognize on the floor with one she did recognize, Gaara. Lee was pulling on the back of Gaara's shirt while blowing his whistle. Sasuke and Naruto were leading the rest of the group in running toward them. Sasuke tackled both of them and worked on prying them apart.

She could hear Ino screaming, "Stop! No, stop!"

Hinata felt a hand on her throat and she returned her attention to the problem at hand. He flung her over a lunch table and she smacked the floor hard. He jumped on top of the table and started to jump down on top of her when something caught his foot, just barely, and jerked him back. "Come here, bitch, it's my turn!" He smacked his face off the table, teeth and piercings went flying as Naruto drug him off with one hard pull.

"Naruto! Stop!" Sakura ran over with Ino and Tenten in tow, "Let him go, stop!" Neither of them were touching him or trying to pull him back, that would've been stupid.

Lee blew on his whistle with everything he had, hoping an administrator would show their face. "Naruto!" He called out, "Naruto, don't!"

The pleas of his friends fell on deaf ears as he hoisted the redhead into the air and slammed him down on top of a table. Hinata stood and wiped the blood from her face, which she wasn't sure where had originated from, and slammed her hands down on the same table.

"Shut up!" She screamed at her friends who were desperate to rip them apart, "Kick his ass, Naruto!"

"Hinata!" Kiba screeched out and violence ensued further. Naruto let him up and backed up enough for him to stand. He just needed one swing from him, just enough to let him know he was capable of defending himself at this point. With just a little patience, he got what he wanted.

He stuck his elbow out to block the blow and then it was open season on his part. The girls screamed as they fell back, they were terrified. Sakura screamed and begged for Naruto to stop and for Sasuke to step in. Sasuke had his hands full with Gaara and Kiba didn't look like he wanted to be of much help either. Hinata stood with a hand on her throbbing head as she glared at them. If Naruto didn't kick his ass then she would.

Exactly five minutes later, reinforcements arrived in the form of Guy, Yamato, and none other than Tsunade herself. It took some effort but the fights were slowly abolished and a large number of students were transported to the office that day, however some of them sought out medical attention first.


End file.
